No iguanian shows any tendency toward the development of a snakelike body or a reduction of the limbs. The temporal arch is present, the skull is high, the teeth are either pleurodont or acrodont, the parietals are fused to form a single bone. There are six cervical vertebrae, and four or more rows of transverse belly scales per body segment. The tongue is simple, rather than divided into anterior and posterior portions. The eyelids are well developed, and the pupils are round.
Femoral pores are occasionally present.
Breaking-point septa are present in the caudal vertebrae, and some forms have rather fragile tails. The geckos and their allies are mostly either stoutly built, short-tailed little lizards, largely nocturnal and well adapted for climbing, or snakelike forms with very reduced limbs. Most geckos are less than 150 millimeters long. They lack an upper temporal arch, a postorbital arch, and lachrymal, squamosal, and postorbital bones in the skull. The jugal bone is small and sometimes absent.