Knowledge of home range is essential to understand the processes that govern space and social organization in animals. We analyzed the historical development of studies of lizard home range in South America in order to evaluate the extent of accumulated knowledge on this subject and to diagnose spatial patterns in the studied species. We found that the studies on home range of South American lizards are scarce, totaling only 18 publications. Furthermore, the accumulated information is both phylogenetically and geographically restricted, with the majority of studies focusing on species of Iguania and having been carried out in northwestern Argentina and southeastern Brazil. We conclude that the limitations of current knowledge impede the evaluation of patterns of space use for South American lizards. Based on this scenario, we provided a basic guideline to improve data gathering and analysis for future studies on home range of lizards from South America.