alligator lizard

American  

noun

1. any of several lizards of the genera Algaria and Gerrhonotus, of western North America, having shinglelike scales and a fold along each side that permits expansion.

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Example Sentences

The report, obtained by The Associated Press, showed that the contaminated mounts included a jungle cat and monitor lizard.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 4, 2023

More than a third of the reptiles on the list—including Borneo’s earless monitor lizard and Madagascar’s Uroplatus finaritra, a leaf-tailed gecko—have not been evaluated for their conservation status.

From Scientific American • Sep. 29, 2020

Also among the remains were skeletons of a monitor lizard, Philippine brown deer, freshwater turtles and stegodons, an early incarnation of the elephant.

From The Guardian • May 4, 2018

Other hissing lizards include the Australian blue-tongued skink and the goanna, an Australian monitor lizard that inflates flaps of skin around the throat to make its warning sound.

From National Geographic • Oct. 24, 2015

Without even thinking, Zeke grabbed Pelicar-nassus and threw him under himself, shielding him with the body of a larger-than-average monitor lizard.

From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness