Night Lizards: Xantusiidae

According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN), one species of night lizard is Vulnerable, which means that it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists the same species, the island night lizard, as Threatened, which means that it is likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. The island night lizard is at risk because people have brought pigs and goats to the three small Channel Islands where the lizard lives. These much larger animals eat the plants that the lizards use as their homes. Efforts are now under way to remove pigs and goats from at least one of the three islands. Although no other species have been named as being at risk, many night lizards are threatened by habitat destruction. When humans cut down rainforests, remove plants, or otherwise destroy the places where the lizards live, whole populations of these animals can disappear.