Missouri Animals Eastern Collared Lizard   (Crotaphytus collaris) Chordate: Vertebrate: Reptile: Lizards (Lacertilia) Native North American lizard Habitat: rocky Ozark glades. Diet: crickets, grasshoppers, beetles.. ID Features: large green/olive lizard with orange neck area. Natural History: The eastern collared lizard is a rare lizard of Missouri's Ozark glades. It is also Missouri's largest lizard. It commonly basks on large boulders and defends a territory against other collared lizard intruders. Collared lizards are now rare, due to over collecting by the pet trade and glade overgrowth from the absence of fire..

The graphics and text are from: Missouri Conservationist, Sept. 2006, pg 24 Copyright © Missouri Conservation Commission. All rights reserved. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Missouri by Tom R. Johnson, Missouri Department of Conservation, © 1992