This species is classified as in Special Protection Regime, so it has specific legal protection. It is a robust vertebrate, between 60 and 90 cm in total length, which makes it the largest lizard on the European continent. Yellowish green in colour, with small black spots on the back and two or three rows of bluish spots on the sides, called ocelli. Its head is broad and triangular. The males are larger than the females. Despite being corpulent, it is agile and large climber.

It is omnivorous. It feeds mainly on invertebrates and poultry eggs. It may exceptionally consume small mammals. It also eats fruits, especially the sweetest ones. Adult males are territorial. In spring there are fights between males. Aggressive behaviour also occurs between females and males during mating. They live in pairs all year.

It is oviparous. In late spring the female excavates a nest and lays 17 to 20 eggs. Hatching occurs at two to three months. The pups take four years to reach reproductive maturity.

It is a cold-blooded animal and, except for the hottest days of summer when it prefers dusk or dawn, it is usually a diurnal animal. Hibernates between the months of November and February.

It lives in areas of cleared, dry and warm vegetation at all altitudes, up to 2000 metres. It takes refuge in burrows in the ground, in holes in tree trunks. It is distributed throughout almost the entire Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean region of France. This lizard is directly related to the ocellated lizard found in northwest Africa. They share a common past, as more than 5 million years ago the two regions were linked.

Should it fall into the clutches of a predator, it has the ability to self-detach from the tail, which will then regenerate it. Its scientific name is Timon lepidus.