# Viviparous lizard (*Zootoca vivipara*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/viviparous-lizard  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The viviparous lizard (Zootoca vivipara), also called the European common lizard, is a reptile in the lizard family Lacertidae, order Squamata. It falls in the tiny size class, with an adult body mass of 4.6 g (from 4.3 to 4.8 g in our sources) and a body length of 5.9 cm. It reaches sexual maturity at 2.4 years, has 1 litter or clutch per year with 6 young or eggs, and has a lifespan of 5 years. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 4.22 g – 4.77 g |
| Length | 5.88 cm – 6.24 cm |
| Lifespan | 4.99 years |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 12 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Young per litter or clutch | 3.6 – 16 |
| Age at maturity | 11 months – 3 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Live birth |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Lacertidae
- genus: Zootoca
- species: *Zootoca vivipara* (Lichtenstein, 1823)

Synonyms: *Lacerta chrysogastra*, *Lacerta crocea*, *Lacerta fragilis*, *Lacerta herseyi*, *Lacerta isidori*, *Lacerta montana*, *Lacerta nigra*, *Lacerta oedura*, *Lacerta ptychodes*, *Lacerta pyrrhogaster*, *Lacerta schreibersiana*, *Lacerta shreibersiana*, *Lacerta unicolor*, *Lacerta vivipara*, *Lacerta vivipara*, *Lacerta vivipara pannonica*, *Lacerta vivipara sachalinensis*, *Lacerta vivipara sachalinensis*, *Lacerta vivipara var. barabensis*, *Lacerta vivipara var. carniolica*, *Lacerta vivipara var. gedulyi*, *Lacerta vivipara var. melanogastra*, *Lacerta vivipara var. pallida*, *Lacerta vivipara vasconiae*, *Lacertus cinereus*, *Seps atra*, *Zootoca alpina*, *Zootoca guérin*, *Zootoca jacquin*, *Zootoca montana*, *Zootoca vivipara*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the viviparous lizard?

It is a reptile, a lizard in the family Lacertidae within the order Squamata.

### How big is the viviparous lizard?

It has a body length of 5.9 cm and an adult body mass of 4.6 g, placing it in the tiny size class.

### How long does the viviparous lizard live?

Its lifespan is 5 years.

### How many young does the viviparous lizard have?

It has 6 young per litter or eggs per clutch, with 1 litter or clutch per year.

### When does the viviparous lizard reach maturity?

It reaches sexual maturity at 2.4 years, with values from 1.9 to 2.8 years reported by our sources.

### Is the viviparous lizard endangered?

No. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

### Who named Zootoca vivipara?

Its scientific name authority is Lichtenstein, 1823, written as (Lichtenstein, 1823).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Viviparous lizard (Zootoca vivipara). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/viviparous-lizard