It's not necessarily unusual to see this pattern in lizards. Gangloff said the Italian wall lizard, another species that has been introduced to North America, has also since changed its body size.

This summer, Bucks County residents are encountering an unexpected guest: the Italian wall lizard, writes JD Mullane for ...

George Rau Jr. brought 10 Wall Lizards from Lake Garda, Italy, to Cincinnati in 1951, and 70 years later, the city has an ever-growing population ...

In 1951, George Rau Jr. and his stepfather, Fred Lazarus Jr. (who founded the retail chain Lazarus, which would later become Macy's), smuggled 10 Italian lizards home from a family trip in Lake ...

What's even crazier is the origin story of these lizards. Gangloff says in the 1950's the Lazarus family, who founded Macy's Department Store, took a vacation near Milan, Italy.

You might not think they're common in the Midwest, but five species of lizard are found in Ohio. There are about 90 species of lizards in America. Most species are native to the southwest.