The Lacertoidea is a group of squamate reptiles that includes the Lacertidae, Teiidae, Gymnophthalmidae, and Amphisbaenia.

The finding from molecular phylogenetic studies that the burrowing Amphisbaenia were nested in a clade with the lizard forms led Vidal & Hedges (2005) to propose a new name for the group based on shared morphogical characters, Laterata, "referring to the presence of tile-like (squarish or quadrangular, and sometimes raised) scales that form the rings in Amphisbaenia, and are also present ventrally in Lacertiformata and Teiformata".

[4] The relationships of the Amphisbaenia to other lizards have long been a mystery; although superficially snakelike, their anatomy and locomotion is quite distinct from that of snakes, Amphisbaenia have a reduced right lung as opposed to snakes which have their left lung reduced.

The Lacertidae are found throughout Europe and Asia, with a major radiation endemic to Africa.

The oldest definitive lacertoid is the amphisbaenian Plesiorhineura, from the early Paleocene of North America.