Leo is not actually a “lizard” in the strict scientific sense—he’s based on a reptile called a tuatara , a rare, lizard‑like animal from New Zealand that belongs to its own order, Rhynchocephalia, not the lizard group.

Quick Scoop: What kind of “lizard” is Leo?

  • In Netflix’s animated film Leo , the class pet Leo is designed after a tuatara, an ancient reptile that only lives in New Zealand.
  • Tuatara look very much like lizards (similar body shape, greenish‑brown/gray skin, and a spiny crest along the back), which is why Leo is constantly called a lizard in the movie.
  • Biologically, tuatara are not classified as lizards at all; they’re the last surviving member of their own reptile order, Rhynchocephalia, a lineage that goes back to the age of dinosaurs.
  • Commentators and explainers on the film consistently describe Leo as “based on” or “from the tuatara family,” clarifying that this is the species the writers had in mind.

Why this matters in the movie

  • A big plot point is Leo learning he supposedly has only one year left to live, which ties into how unusually long‑lived tuataras actually are in real life (they can live for many decades, even over a century).
  • The Florida classroom setting is a fictional stretch, since tuataras are endemic to New Zealand and don’t naturally occur in Florida at all.

So if you’re asking “what kind of lizard is Leo?” the most accurate answer is: he’s tuatara‑inspired , a lizard‑like reptile, but not truly a lizard.

TL;DR: Leo is modeled on a tuatara , an ancient New Zealand reptile that only looks like a lizard but is in its own unique reptile group.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.