Life in Cold Blood: Dragons of the Dry - Vocabulary

A comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set detailing lizard adaptations, behaviors, species specifications, and ecological traits covered in the lecture notes.

Ectothermy

The physiological trait ("cold-bloodedness") where animals rely on environmental heat, particularly sunlight, to raise their body temperature.

Behavioral Thermoregulation

The process of controlling body temperature by actively moving between thermal environments, such as basking in direct sunlight or moving into the shade.

Lace Monitor

A large, highly intelligent generalist monitor lizard from the Australian Outback whose young hatch inside termite mounds, using them as natural incubators.

Jacky Dragon

A tree-dwelling lizard that uses front-leg waving and head bobbing for territorial signaling, and a slow leg wave without head bobbing to signal defeat or submission.

male anoles

An extendable throat flap (Dewlap) in (..) used temporarily for territorial signals, rival warnings, and challenges before being retracted to maintain camouflage.

Panther Chameleon

A tree-dwelling lizard with divided toes in a 3 + 2 arrangement and a gripping tail, using dramatic color changes primarily for communication, emotional state, and aggression.

Meller's Chameleon

One of the largest chameleon species, reaching approximately 60 cm from nose to tail, which uses a sequence of visual threat displays and physical combat during male rival contests.

South African Dwarf Chameleon

Male

• More colorful.

• Displays a strong courtship appearance.

Female

• Less colorful.

• Becomes darker when she is unreceptive.

• Retains the developing young inside her body.

• Uses sunbathing to warm herself and the developing offspring.

• Eventually gives birth to live young.

it has a membrane enclosing it that will stick to a twig if it hits one

what does a newborn south african dward chameleon possess when it is born?

Pygmy Leaf Chameleon

• An extremely small lizard inhabiting leaf litter whose adult male possesses full chameleon anatomy and uses a projectile tongue to catch tiny insects like flies

tapered rod

a chameleon tongue contains a central (..) surrounded by muscle that shoots forward, grasps prey, and retracts in approximately one second or less.

chameleons use their toes to grip the twigs and gekkos use theirs to stick to leaves

difference on toes of chameleons and gekkos?

Adhesive Toe Pads

Specialized physical structures on gecko feet that allow them to stick to surfaces like leaves, distinct from the grasping toes of chameleons.

Tree Hopper

A plant-sap-feeding insect that secretes sugary honeydew and waggles its abdomen to signal geckos in a potentially mutualistic relationship.

honeydew

what remains on tree sap after the hopper has extracted the protein from it

Madagascan Leaf-Tailed Gecko

A nocturnal lizard exhibiting cryptic coloration with a leaf-shaped tail, body and leg flanges to eliminate shadows when close to the bark, and eyes resembling bark patterns or blotches of lichen in bark

Five-Lined Skink

A North American woodland lizard exhibiting maternal incubation by basking in sunlight to transfer body heat to its laid eggs.

Urban gecko

In tropical cities such as Bangkok, geckos have adapted to human environments. what are these?

Five-Lined Skink

• In North American woodlands, this female species lays eggs and then basks in sunlight. She warms her own body and transfers that heat to the eggs.

• the young are already capable of finding food of their own

Pygmy Blue-Tongue Skink

• A species believed extinct for over 30 years until its rediscovery in 1992, which lives inside trapdoor spider burrows where family groups remain together for about three weeks.

• can be found using a fishing rod

Shingleback / Sleepy Lizard

• head and tail look very similar

• couples stay together for up to 2 months

• he caughts her by gently nudging and licking her

• A slow-moving Australian lizard that forms long-term pair bonds and remain faithful to each other lasting 20+ years

• gives birth to live young weighing roughly one-third of the mother's weight

• shows grief-like behavior toward dead partners, remaining beside it for days and tenderly nudging it

• like the cape chameleon in South Africa, the female has been acting as a mobile incubator, seeking out the warmest spots she can find in order to bask

Augrabies Flat Lizard

• emerge from the cracks on the rocks where they spent the nigt and bask in the sun to warm up

• A high-density South African lizard species whose males display bright blue heads and orange/yellow undersides to visually establish dominance hierarchies with reduced physical fighting.

• they reveal their undersides to confirm their place in the pecking order

• they have awkward looking postures, which is why they are called flat lizards

Mexican Beaded Lizard

One of the few venomous lizards, whose males engage in hours-long wrestling matches to establish dominance without using their potent venomous bite and claws

Bushveld Lizard

A young lizard that exhibits protective mimicry (beetfle) by imitating the appearance and walking behavior of a formic-acid-spraying beetle to avoid bird predation.

Thorny Devil (Moloch)

An Australian desert lizard covered in protective armor spines that uses an energy-efficient ambush strategy to eat large quantities of ants along established trails.

Perentie (Varanus giganteus)

• Australia's largest monitor lizard, reaching approximately 2 meters in length and 6ft

• can speeds run, capable of endurance hunting using a muscular throat by inflating it that acts like a bellows to pump air into its lungs while running.

GPS tracking

Used to determine:

• Where lizards go.

• Their movements.

• Their spatial behavior.

Microchips

Individual lizards were microchipped.

This allowed researchers to identify individuals even when many animals were together.

waddle-ometer

records GPS position, count number of steps and determine where lizard is in sunlight or under shade

Miniature cameras

Used to observe animals inside their burrows.

This was particularly useful for the pygmy blue-tongue skink.

Draco lizard

• A tree-dwelling (arboreal) lizard.

• Lives in tropical jungles/forests.

• Specialized for moving between trees.

• Known for its ability to glide through the air, giving it the nickname “flying dragon.”

• It does not truly fly like a bird; it glides from one tree to another.

• sailfin lizard

• yellow-headed monitor lizard

species in born to be wild

ibid

also called sailfin lizard