Snapple strikes again: Lizards doing pushups

[Avril]

I haven't had Snapple in a long time, but I got some today and the cap had this "Real Fact" #94. I searched the main site and these boards and couldn't find anything:

Lizards communicate by doing pushups.

My first thought was, how could a lizard even do a pushup?

Apologies if this has been covered before.

Avril

Originally Posted by Avril

My first thought was, how could a lizard even do a pushup?

Here's a University of Arizona site about the phenomenon.

... oh, hey, there's mouse-over animations too!

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by Traveler in Black

Here's a University of Arizona site about the phenomenon.

... oh, hey, there's mouse-over animations too!

Nice animation too, good find! Lizards have legs under their bodies, not off the sides like most 4 leggers. Seems to be a unique behavior, but one that is totally rockin'. Every time one does it I laugh, it is just so cute!

[Keeper of the Mad Bunnies]

Ah, yes. Lizard push-ups were one of the study topics in my sociobiology class in college. Spent a lot of afternoons watching lizards in San Diego.

James Powell

[Floater]

Originally Posted by inkrose115

Lizards have legs under their bodies, not off the sides like most 4 leggers.

Sorry, but it's the other way round. Reptiles, including lizards, have their legs off the sides and mammals have them under the bodies.

[Troberg]

Lizards communicate by doing pushups.

I've always assumed they did it to get a better view, as their low posture does not give them a very good field of vision, especially when looking for cracks (to hide in or to find prey in). I've seen them do it without any other lizards nearby, which don't look like communication to me.

[inkrose115]

Originally Posted by Floater

Sorry, but it's the other way round. Reptiles, including lizards, have their legs off the sides and mammals have them under the bodies.

I've been modeling them with the legs extruded off from the sides. O.-

[geminilee]

Originally Posted by Troberg

I've always assumed they did it to get a better view, as their low posture does not give them a very good field of vision, especially when looking for cracks (to hide in or to find prey in). I've seen them do it without any other lizards nearby, which don't look like communication to me.

Are you sure there were no other lizards you couldn't see? They can be really hard to spot. Plus, the lizard could be communicating something to the world at large, not to any specific other lizard.

[Troberg]

Are you sure there were no other lizards you couldn't see? They can be really hard to spot.

Not in this case, it was in the middle of a huge antique mosaic floor of a ruined church in the ancient city of Jerash, Jordan. It was a flat surface, probably 8-10 m across.

Plus, the lizard could be communicating something to the world at large, not to any specific other lizard.

As it was an old church, we speculated that it might be praying.

I found a photo I shot of the little guy:

http://rpglab.net/troberg/gallery/vi...gid=30&phid=52

Picture where the size of the floor can be seen:

http://rpglab.net/troberg/gallery/vi...gid=30&phid=49

[Keeper of the Mad Bunnies]

Originally Posted by Troberg

Not in this case, it was in the middle of a huge antique mosaic floor of a ruined church in the ancient city of Jerash, Jordan. It was a flat surface, probably 8-10 m across.

Ah, but did you look on the walls? That lizard has a great vantage point to display to any lizard within or on the walls.

Also, lizards will sometimes display to non-lizards. He may have simply been warning you that you were on his turf.

James Powell

[inkrose115]

Been doing research. Lizard elgs stick out from the sides and seem to fold under the body. Most four leggers also have limbs coming out of the sides and fronts/backs, but they go down. I think it is because of the way they walk on their toes (except bears) and how their limbs are attached to their pelvis/shoulders.

[Troberg]

Also, lizards will sometimes display to non-lizards. He may have simply been warning you that you were on his turf.

Perhaps, I saw another lizard do the same towards a bird that came too close. I thought the lizard was bird dinner, as the bird easily weighed ten times as much as the lizard, but after posing and trying to look large for a while, it just launched itself straight at the bird, scaring off the bird. It was a quick leap, so fast that the eye could barely follow it, and I was almost as startled as the bird (I was watching through a zoom lens, so I had a nice closeup).