The New Caledonian lizard fauna includes twenty-one species of geckos and twenty-seven species of skinks, of which a total of forty-one species are regional endemics In contrast to most Pacific insular herpetofaunas, generic endemism is high. Alpha taxonomic work continues to be required in New Caledonia, although biological and ecological investigations have been initiated in the last decade. The endemic carphodactyline gekkonid fauna shows affinities with New Zealand and Australian forms, whereas the gekkonine geckos are representative of widely distributed insular taxa, including several parthenogens Relationships among the scincid lizards remain obscure, although all New Caledonian taxa are members of the Eugongylus group of lygosomines and, at least within Nannoscincus, Australian affinities are indicated. The lizards of New Caledonia have apparently evolved their observed diversity in situ and a number of regions of local endemism are evident. The southern ultramafic block and the region around Mt Panie are especially significant in this regard. Habitat destruction and the introduction of rodents and other potental predators are the prime threats to the herpetofauna. Many lizard taxa are presently under no immediate threat, but several taxa are known from only a few specimens, and two species may be extinct. Accurate assessments of the conservation status of most New Caledonian lizards are hindered by a lack of distributional and ecological data.