Saturday, April 19, 2008

Along with spring comes baby lizards

So I was outside working on the pool a little bit this morning and I happened to notice two lizards on our swing. One was just hanging out, but the other had his dewlap puffed up and it was red...he was also bobbing his head up and down. I realized he was trying to woo that little lady lizard on the swing with him. Emma got her first lesson on the birds and the bees...(just kidding). Here are a few pictures:

I interupted his little dance :(
He said "See ya...I'm outa here!" (You can see girlfriend there behind him)
He is the one hiding under the cushion and she was a little more brave.









Maybe we will see little baby lizards soon :)
I found this little blurb online.....just an educational side note:
Reptiles, most notably the anole species of lizard, have large skin dewlaps under their neck which they can extend and retract. The dewlaps are usually of a different color from the rest of their body and can be enlarged to make the lizard seem much bigger than it really is, especially when warding off predators. Males use the dewlap to intimidate rivals and to attract females during mating season. Despite the male lizard dewlap being much larger in size, female anoles do indeed possess a dewlap as well. These uses for the dewlap work much in the same way as the neck frill on a frill-necked lizard, with the lizard extending its neck frill for much of the same reasons. However, it is not known if the dewlap is used in thermoregulation like the neck frill is.
Lizards who have dewlaps usually accompany their dewlap enlargement with head bobs and movement. Scientists are unsure about what this is meant to communicate, but it is prevalent when the lizards are courting.




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