📸 PhotoPhoto: Jörg Hempel · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Wikimedia Commons Source
Viviparous Lizard
Zootoca vivipara (Viviparous Lizard · コモチカナヘビ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A total length of 7.7 cm is slightly shorter than the long side of a credit card (about 8.6 cm), and a weight of 5 g is lighter than a Korean 500-won coin (about 7.7 g) (Comparison).
- 💡 Because of its unusual reproductive traits, it is used in research and education (University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Web).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Viviparous Lizard is a small lizard adapted to diverse environments and high mountains, and is a subject of research for its unusual reproductive modes.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its body color varies across brown, red, gray, green, and black. Males have brightly colored bellies in yellow, blue, orange, or green, longitudinal rows of white spots on the back, and a thicker tail base than females.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It eats insects such as true bugs, spiders, and occasionally moth caterpillars, and stops foraging when its body temperature drops below 27°C. It hibernates from mid-month 10 to mid-month 3, and males mate around month 4 after shedding their skin.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2024) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/243561476/217510164
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • catalogueoflife.org — 5D7Q2
- • iucnredlist.org — 217510164
- • wikidata.org — Q204061
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Zootoca vivipara LC0273.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Zootoca vivipara
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Audrey Ely · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.