North Dakota Lizards Lizards Lizards are reptiles. They regulate their body temperature by basking in the sun or cooling off in the shade.
Lizards have external ear openings, unlike snakes which have no openings at all.
Sagebrush lizards and prairie skinks have a unique escape mechanism in that their tail breaks away when grabbed by a predator. While the predator is amused with the twitching tail, the lizard escapes unharmed. The tail will grow back over a period of time. Short-horned lizards found in North Dakota are often referred to as horned toads. This is a mistake since short-horned lizards are reptiles, not amphibians.