Can’t get enough of lizards? We’re back with a bonus episode answering more of your lizard questions with Adam Clause of the San Diego Natural History Museum. This week, chameleons, Komodo dragons, iguanas, monitor lizards and tuatara! How do chameleons change color? Why are Komodo dragons called dragons and are they endangered? How many babies do monitor lizards have? Why do iguanas have dewlaps? (And what’s a dewlap?!) Why are iguanas green? What is a tuatara?
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- Reptiles and amphibians are sometimes lumped together and studied in a field called herpetology, but they’re actually not even closely related to each other! Reptiles are more closely related to birds than to amphibians.
- There are more than 7000 species of lizards in the world. In this episode we focus on just a couple of them.
- Like chameleons! There are many different types of chameleons. They range in size from the bearded dragon, which can be two feet long, to species as small as your pinky finger.
- All chameleon species can change color.
- Chameleons have little packets of pigment in the individual scales of their skin. They can expand and contract these pigment packets through muscular action in their nerve endings.
- By changing whether these muscles are expanded or contracted at the same time, they can change their color patterns.
- Want to learn more about chameleons? Watch our video
- Iguanas have spikes on their back for protection against predators and also to impress other iguanas.
- Komodo dragons are the largest lizard on the planet. They can be well over 20 feet long. They're only found on a few small islands in Indonesia.
- Komodo dragons subdue their prey by a mix of venom and bacteria in their mouths. The venom contains an anti-coagulant, which enters the bloodstream and causes the prey to bleed to death.
- They are very feared, which is how they earned the name dragon.
- And Komodo comes from one of the Indonesian islands where they can be found.
- Komodo dragons are actually endangered. They are threatened by many human activities like habitat loss, pollution and climate change.
