Lizards are perhaps the most common animal species on earth. They are found on all continents and continents except Antarctica. This, in addition, and the most ancient creatures that live on our planet. In Japan, for example, the remains of an ancient herbivorous lizard were found that are 130 million years old, and a reptile fossil found in Scotland, which was identified as a lizard, has an even more respectable age of 340 million years!
In this article, we will look at these amazing descendants of dinosaurs, find out how lizards reproduce, and much more.
Why lizards are reptiles
To date, about 9400 representatives of the class of reptiles are known, and one of them is the lizard. Anyone who watched this nimble creature move, probably already understood why it is assigned to the named class. The lizard, like its other relatives: snakes, turtles or crocodiles, moves, pressing against the ground with its stomach, "closing" with it. The only exceptions are the amazing basilisks (Basiliscus), which are able to run on water, and even on two hind legs, with their tail up and their front paws pressed to their abdomen.
Similar to all reptiles anda method of reproduction characterized by internal fertilization. Females, as a rule, lay already fertilized eggs, which have a high yolk content and are covered with a leathery (like most lizards) or calcareous (like turtles or crocodiles) shell. Lizard eggs in a clutch can be in the amount of one or two, or several dozen pieces.
This is a delicacy
By the way, in Colombia, lizard eggs are considered a delicious delicacy. Iguana eggs are mainly used for local cuisine. Hunters look for a female of this species, who has lost her agility due to ready-to-lay eggs, catch her and make an incision in her belly. Eggs are carefully removed from it, and wood ash is rubbed into the wound, after which the iguana is released.
Of course, you can track where this delicious egg-laying lizard will make a nest and wait for them to appear naturally, but the locals find it too troublesome. Therefore, they make the animal a "caesarean section." By the way, monitor lizard eggs are considered no less tasty.
How baby lizards are born
Usually, the lizard lays its eggs in secluded places: sand, soil, among stones or rotting leaves, and in due time, fully formed miniature copies of their parents are born from them. By the way, in some species of lizards, especially those living in northern latitudes, the cubs get out of the shell immediately after laying eggs by the mother, since the embryo develops already in the body of the female, which prevents it fromchill.
It's interesting to see how this process happens. Before the moment of birth, the lizard becomes restless during the day, scrapes the ground, bends its tail over its back, and finally, in the evening, the first cub sitting in the shell is born. Two minutes later, the second is born, the third, and so on. Moreover, each time after laying, the female takes a step forward, from which the kids lie down behind her in a line. An hour later, they all emerge from the shell and hide in cracks in the ground, where they sit with their tails curled until they are hungry.
True, these representatives of reptiles are not very caring mothers - after the lizard lays eggs, she usually does not return to them. And if sometimes he still comes to the place of laying, then only to eat part of the egg shells.
There are truly viviparous females
But not always the lizard lays eggs even for such a short time. So, skinks from the genus Mabuya live in South America, which can be classified as truly viviparous. The female skink carries tiny, yolkless eggs in her oviducts, which are most likely fed through the maternal placenta (which is temporarily formed on the walls of the lizard's oviduct). Here, the capillaries of the female come close enough to the capillaries of the embryos to provide them with oxygen and nourishment.
And representatives of the Peruvian changeable iguanas (Liolaemus multiformis) live in the highlands, in the Cordillera, sometimes at an altitude of up to 5000 meters, where it snows even in summer. And so that the kids do notdied, the female gives birth to live cubs that have gone through the entire development process in her womb.
Yes, lizards are very interesting creatures that never cease to amaze researchers!
How basilisks are born
When talking about lizards, one cannot fail to mention basilisks, namely, representatives of the Basiliskus basiliscus species, which have the ability to run on water. On the surface of the water, they develop speeds of up to 12 km / h, overcoming up to 400 meters. People call these reptiles Christ's lizards for such talent.
At the same time, basilisks prefer to live in the stuffy humid forests of Nicaragua and Costa Rica only on the crowns of trees growing along the banks of rivers and lakes. But due to the special fearfulness of the basilisk, it rushes to its heels from any noise or suspicion of danger, jumping from the branches into the water.
During the rainy season, a pregnant female looks for a hidden place for masonry, descends from a tree for this, and, crouching her muzzle to the ground, determines where the humidity and temperature will be most suitable. Lizard eggs lie in the sand or under the leaves for about 10 weeks, after which the babies pierce them with a special egg tooth, which later falls out.
What is parthenogenesis
And rock lizards live in Armenia, which breed without the participation of males. Only females hatch from eggs and in the same way they can breed completely independently.
This phenomenon in nature is called "parthenogenesis". Interestingly, elsewherehabitat of this species, the lizard lays eggs, fertilized already with the help of males. By the way, according to the observation of scientists, eggs with dead male embryos can be found in the clutches of such lizards. Why this is happening is not yet clear.
By the way, Komodo monitor lizards also have the ability to parthenogenesis due to a limited number of individuals and a small habitat area.
Swift lizard can be seen nearby
The most numerous genus is Lacerta agillis, the so-called quick lizards. They live throughout Europe and Asia. Everyone must have seen them, because they settle in sunny meadows, in personal plots or in places where there is less vegetation to make it easier to sunbathe.
From March to June, the mating season begins for lizards, and, having become emerald, males go in search of beautiful ladies (who, by the way, look very modest). Oval, up to 1.5 cm in length, covered with a leathery shell, the eggs of an ordinary lizard are in a dug mink for about 9 weeks, after which babies 6 cm long appear from them, having a darker color than their parents.
From baby to giant
The smallest of the order of lizards is the round-toed gecko, which lives in India. It weighs only 1 gram, and the length of this crumb is 33 mm.
By the way, the reproduction of this species of lizards occurs only when there is a lot of water around. The female round-toed gecko lays a single, regular, round-shaped, tiny egg that does notexceeds 6 mm in diameter. Moreover, it is interesting that often several females simultaneously choose the same place for laying. Not leathery, like most lizards, but the calcareous shell of this egg hardens very quickly in the air and becomes incredibly fragile. True, it is almost impossible to find these masonry due to their tiny size. They can be in all sorts of cracks, and in abandoned termite mounds.
But the Komodo monitor lizard, which lives in Indonesia, is a giant, allowing you to immediately remember that lizards are direct descendants of dinosaurs. It reaches 3 meters in length and weighs 135 kg. Having met such a hulk, anyone will try to quickly get out of the way. True, the huge size did not prevent this lizard from becoming the smallest - now there are only 200 representatives of this species.
Lizards add beauty to this world
By the way, lizards have color vision, which is a rarity in the animal world. They, like us, can enjoy all the colors of the planet.
Yes, and the reptiles themselves are incredibly spectacular and add beauty to this world with their fantastic shapes, coloring and habits. Many lizards are able to change their color or its intensity due to the functioning of special skin cells called melanophores. By the way, thanks to this, a completely blind chameleon lizard easily takes on the color of the environment, and glowing geckos mysteriously flicker in the dark.
Therefore, having found lizard eggs, photos of which you could see in the article, do not rush to destroythem, think how impoverished the world would be without these nimble and very interesting creatures.
