There is a certain type of lizard that the Arabs do eat...
'Abdullah b. 'Abbas reported: I and Khalid b. Walid went to the apartment of Maimuna along with Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him), and there was presented to him a roasted lizard. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) stretched his hand towards It, whereupon some of the women who had been in the house of Maimuna said: Inform Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) what he intends to eat. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) lifted his hand. I said: Messenger of Allah, Is it forbidden? He said: No. It is not found in the land of my people, and I feel that I have no liking for it. Khalid said: I then chewed and ate it, while, Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) was looking (at me).
This hadith came up when I took the AlMaghrib Code Evolved class in regards to things that the Prophet (saw) may have personally disliked, but they were still permissible.
But what really interested me, and many others, was to see what exactly this lizard looked like. In English its commonly referred to as the Spiny Tail Lizard (
uromastyx microlepis). Apparently it is still a delicacy in some places in the Middle East. I have put some pictures below of what the lizard looks like and some “tasty” ways its served up.