A zookeeper’s burnt lunch revealed a lizard’s secret survival skill
Millions of years of evolution have taught certain reptiles the importance of the old adage, “where there is smoke, there is fire.” Take the sleepy lizards (Tiliqua Rugosus) from Australia. Researchers from Macquarie University have found that these small truncated tail reptiles become restless after catching a puff of something burning. But as they explain in their study recently published in the journal Biology lettersThere are still limits to the sensory indices of animals.
The theory that some reptiles innovate innovatively the dangers associated with smoke is supported by years of anecdotal evidence. One of the stranger examples occurred completely by chance at the Audubon zoo in New Orleans. After the members of the staff accidentally burned their lunch, they noticed that the sleeping lizards of the establishment began to tasting the air circulating with their language. Their agitation was so serious that the lizards even tried to escape their enclosures. Meanwhile, other species of nearby reptiles have remained calm despite the smell.
What made the incident even more striking is that most of the sleeping lizards of Audubon Zoo were raised in captivity, which implies that the reaction was an innate response instead of learned behavior. Since then, several studies have explored potential evolutionary explanations to the responses. But reptiles are not the only documented animals to have smoke sensitivity.
“Many animals from the regions subject to fire, such as Australia, seem to have this miraculous ability to survive their home,” said Chris Jolly, behaviorist at Macquarie University, in a statement.
In the case of the sleeping lizards, Jolly and his colleagues decided to test this direct correlation in a controlled environment. To do this, they safely exposed a group of reptiles with the smell of smoke and the sound of crackling fire separately, then combined together. It quickly became clear that the sleeping lizards would fled if they felt a fire, but did nothing if they simply heard the flames.
“Our study demonstrates that some lizards unuscently recognize smoke as an approach to fire approach and react by fleeing,” said Jolly.
Confirmation of the theory is particularly important because climate change continues to increase the frequency and intensity of forest fires in Australia and in the world. A common hypothesis is that animals captured in these disastrous emergencies rarely escape damage, when many species already have vital evolutionary strategies.
This does not mean that fauna is suitable for managing the climate crisis – mountains of evidence clearly show the opposite. But understand that species and sleeping lizards can at least have certain advantages help to shed light on current conservation efforts.
“As fires become more frequent, intense and unpredictable, including in habitats that have rarely burned in the past, such as tropical forests – we must know which species can respond to fires and which the most vulnerable,” said Jolly.
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