The functioning and distribution of ectothermic organisms result from the interaction of various factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic factors include body or organ size, thermal biology, and diet. Extrinsic factors include climate-related variables such as temperature, rainfall, and elevation, as well as their variability. Certain aspects of physiology, like metabolic rate, can be assessed using frameworks such as the food habits hypothesis and metabolic cold adaptation hypothesis. Geographic range and occurrence are examined through concepts like climatic variability and activity hypotheses, among others. Herein, we studied 24 members of the family Liolaemidae occurring to the East of the Andes. Our data represent 20% of the species found in this region and cover nearly 40% of the family’s total distribution area. We considered body size (body mass and snout-vent length), standard metabolic rate, relative gut surface, thermal tolerance range, and the proportion of plant material in the diet as intrinsic traits. For climatic variables, we used 19 traits from global meteorological database ( https://www.worldclim.org ) along with elevation, slope, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). We analyzed our data with consideration of phylogeny and evaluated which evolutionary model best fitted our analyses. Our results indicate that a trend toward herbivory limits both the metabolic rate and, to a lesser extent, the geographic range occupied by these lizards. Aridity and thermal variability also impact metabolic rate. Relative gut surface area and the proportion of plant material in the diet evolved more rapidly compared to other intrinsic traits studied. Previous studies have only partially elucidated the factors influencing these traits. We argue that improved data quality will enhance the accuracy of such studies and lead to more precise conclusions.