Common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) about to eat a crane fly. This lizard is found throughout Eurasia, including Britain. It has one of the widest ranges

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Common lizard (Lacerta vivipara) about to eat a crane fly. This lizard is found throughout Eurasia, including Britain. It has one of the widest ranges of any vertebrate and is found as far north as Scandinavia and Arctic Russia. It prefers open moorland and heaths, feeding on insects and other small invertebrates. It needs to bask in the sun to raise its body temperature sufficiently to allow it to hunt. During the winter, from around October to March, the common lizard hibernates. As the species name vivipara implies, the female gives birth to live young, after incubating the eggs inside her body. This lizard can reach 15 centimetres in length.

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Size: 5184px × 3494px
Photo credit: © DAVID AUBREY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: animal, biological, biology, british, common, crane, daddy-long-legs, fauna, fly, hunting, lacerta, lizard, nature, predator, prey, reptile, single, vivipara, wildlife, zoological, zoology