#anguimorpha

idk what I expected but hey I'm not complaining

Photo by Jurgen Otto

Typical. Northern Alligator Lizards, Elgaria coerulea, have been biting me for 2 decades. This one is a younger adult, apparently already through its first tail loss, and caused no pain. Larger inds. can draw light blood. Generally lethargic. The blue fuzz on its mouth is from the old packing blanket it was disturbed from under. Eats arthropods, sometimes smaller lizards/verts like you'd expect. Alligator lizards are consistently outnumbered by the more active and agile fence lizards in my yard, but have maintained a consistent littoral presence of a least several inds. in the general area at a time for as long as I remember. I have however witnessed and photographed at least a couple of occasions of these #squamates climbing to the top of shrubbery to sun. #lizardsofinstagram #anguidae #anguimorpha #alligatorlizard #alligator #socal #bernie2020 #diapsid #eattherich (at Oceanside, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B9aZhSMg-r1/?igshid=xqe4pj2j220h

IUCN Red List

The second photo is of a Gray's monitor in the Bronx Zoo.

Oh you just missed it. Anguimorpha (which includes Monitor lizards along with Komodo Dragons) was in the first round, and just barely lost to Iguania. Looking back, I didn't mention that the clade inclueds Monitor Lizards in the poll post. Maybe if I did Anguimorpha would have won