The middle ear in squamate reptiles is formed by three elements, columella, extracolumella, and tympanic membrane. The main function of this segment of the ear is to transform sound pressures into vibrations, and to transmit these vibrations into the inner ear. In lizards, the morphology of the columella is highly conservative, while the extracolumella shows a wide variation in size, shape, and the amount of processes derived from it. Here we surveyed 24 lizard genera using clear and stained specimens to study the morphology of the middle ear. The data collected was combined with data from previous descriptions, and these characters were used for ancestral character inference using parsimony and Bayesian approaches. One of the characters studied show high levels of homoplasy, while two of them would serve to diagnose some clades. Geckos showed complex morphologies in the shape of the extracolumella, including an expansion of this structure. It is possible that the observed traits in geckos make them more sensitive to sounds, which is congruent with their ability to produce complex vocalizations, which are more similar to mammals and birds than other lizards. Finally, fossorial forms and snakes showed a tendency to lost the extracolumella, which also is an specialization to perceive ground-borne vibrations.