European Wall Lizards

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Originally uploaded by Calypso Orchid

I read an interesting article in National Geographic News about European Wall Lizards this week. A few pairs were released on a tiny island in the Adriatic Sea in the early 1970s. They reproduced unchecked and unobserved for the next thirty years and when scientists were able to return to the island (hindered previously by war) they found some astonishing changes in the lizards. Not only had the lizards changed in behavior, but their heads had become larger and they'd evolved a new structure in their intestines which allowed them to make the change from an insect-based to a plant-based diet. It's a truly astonishing rate of evolutionary change.

The article initially caught my eye because Cincinnati has been home to an introduced population of European Wall Lizards since 1951, when a handful of lizards were released by a member of the Lazarus family, they of department store fame. In fact, the lizards are sometimes known locally as "Lazarus Lizards". I've encountered them often around town; they especially seem to love Mount Adams and other areas with lots of stone walls.