Latest Lizards Stories
A growing iguana population has officially become a nuisance in the town of Manalapan, Fla., and action must be taken, town officials say.Town commissioner Peter Blum said officials have agreed to start talking with animal trappers about a one-time removal of the green lizards, the Palm Beach (Fla.) Daily News said Tuesday.They are a nuisance, and they breed almost like rabbits, said Blum, who estimates there are more than four iguanas loose in Manalapan.Police Chief Clay Walker said any...
If you've ever tried capturing a lizard, you'll know how difficult it is. But if you do manage to corner one, many have the ultimate emergency quick release system for escape. They simply drop their tails, leaving the twitching body part to distract the predator as they scamper to safety. According to Gary Gillis from Mount Holyoke College, USA, up to 50% of some lizard populations seem to have traded some part of their tails in exchange for escape. This made Gillis wonder how this loss may...
Penn State Assistant Professor of Biology Tracy Langkilde has shown that native fence lizards in the southeastern United States are adapting to potentially fatal invasive fire-ant attacks by developing behaviors that enable them to escape from the ants, as well as by developing longer hind legs, which can increase the effectiveness of this behavior. "Not only does this finding provide biologists with an example of evolution in action, but it also provides wildlife managers with knowledge...
It wasn't raining iguanas in southern Florida -- experts said cold weather caused some of the lizards to fall asleep and drop from trees. The experts said this week's cold temperatures, which dropped into the 40s, caused several iguanas to lose their grips and fall out of trees due to the deep sleep brought on by the chilly weather, WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach reported Monday. David Hitzig at the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter said iguanas are reported dead in higher volumes when...
Chloee Bird shows delight instead of fright as Big Thunder, a bearded dragon, climbs on top of her head Sunday at the Reptile Expo at the Utah State Fairpark. Hundreds of people turned out to look at spiders, snakes, lizards and insects. (c) 2008 Deseret News (Salt Lake City). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
Birds and others sing; anoles are first species known to mark time through visual displaysWhat does Jack LaLanne have in common with a Jamaican lizard?Like the ageless fitness guru, the lizards greet each new day with vigorous push-ups. That's according to a new study showing that male Anolis lizards engage in impressive displays of reptilian strength -- push-ups, head bobs, and threatening extension of a colorful neck flap called a dewlap -- to defend their territory at dawn and dusk. The...
Herpetologists discover that a Malagasy chameleon spends most of its short life in an eggThere is a newly discovered life history among the 28,300 species of known tetrapods, or four-legged animals with backbones. A chameleon from arid southwestern Madagascar spends up to three-quarters of its life in an egg. Even more unusual, life after hatching is a mere 4 to 5 months. No other known four-legged animal has such a rapid growth rate and such a short life span. The new research is reported in...
Why bother running on hind legs when the four you've been given work perfectly well? This is the question that puzzles Christofer Clemente. For birds and primates, there's a perfectly good answer: birds have converted their forelimbs into wings, and primates have better things to do with their hands. But why have some lizards gone bipedal? Have they evolved to trot on two feet, or is their upright posture simply a fluke of physics? Curious to find the answer, Clemente and his colleagues...
Like humans, some lizards are always on the go, grabbing food en route, while others wait like couch potatoes expecting pizza delivery. New video research finds the lazy lizards that wait for food to pass by on a seeming silver platter actually have evolved into skilled sprinters, while the constantly active foragers are built for long walks. Monitor lizards and some skinks are considered wide foragers. They spend 80 percent of their lives on the move, slowly slinking about...
Foraging sheds light on evolution of biomechanicsThe technique lizards use to grab their grub influences how they move, according to researchers at Ohio University.A research team led by doctoral student Eric McElroy tracked 18 different species of lizards as they walked or ran in order to understand how their foraging styles impact their biomechanics. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation, was featured in the April 1 edition of the Journal of Experimental Biology. Lizards use...
Latest Lizards Reference Libraries
The Desert Iguana, Dipsosaurus dorsalis, is one of the most common lizards of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They also can be found on several islands in the Gulf of California. Their preferred habitat is largely contained within the range of the creosote bush, mainly dry, sandy desert scrubland below 3300 ft. It can also be found in rocky streambeds up to 3300 ft. In the southern portion of its range this lizard lives in areas of...
The Brown Basilisk or Striped Basilisk, Basiliscus vittatus, is a species of lizard native to Central America, but have been introduced into the wild in the U.S. state of Florida. They are also called the common basilisk and, the "Jesus Lizard" because when it flees from predators it runs very fast and can even run on top of water. Basilisks actually have large hind feet with flaps of skin between each toe. The fact that they move quickly across the water, aided by their web-like feet,...
The Southern Alligator Lizard, Elgaria multicarinata, is a lizard native to the Pacific coast of North America. It is common throughout Southern California and can be found in both grasslands and urban areas. Several subspecies can be distinguished, including the San Diego alligator lizard. It has a prehensile tail up to twice the length of its body. Like many lizards, however, it can drop its tail if attacked, possibly giving it a chance to flee; the tail will regenerate, but will never...
The Beaded Lizard or Mexican Beaded Lizard, Heloderma horridum, is a venomous lizard found in Mexico and the southern United States. Adult Mexican Beaded Lizards range from 13 to 18 inches in length. Until recently, the beaded lizard and the Gila Monster were the only two lizards known to be venomous. Research showed that some iguanas and monitors are also venomous. The beaded lizards' venom is similar to that of some snakes (e.g. the western diamondback rattler).
Chuckwallas (less commonly known as Chuckawallas) are large, bulky lizards found mainly in arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, although some are found on coastal islands. There are five species of Chuckwalla, all within the genus Sauromalus; they are part of the iguana family, Iguanidae. The name Chuckwalla derives from the Shoshone word "tcaxxwal" or Cahullia "caxwal", transcribed by Spaniards as "chacahuala". Physical description Reaching a total...
