Common Side-blotched Lizard: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Lizards · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. Males come with orange, blue or yellow throats, and they compete like rock, paper, scissors: each type beats one rival but loses to the other.
2. Orange-throated males are the big bullies. They guard large patches of about 100 square metres with several females inside.
3. Yellow-throated males are sneaks. They look like females, and when a big male shows up, they copy a female's body language to fool him.
4. Some yellow-throated males can turn blue during the breeding season, dropping their disguise to act like blue-throated guards.
5. Like many lizards, it can drop its tail to escape. But a shorter tail costs it rank among other side-blotched lizards.

The quiz

1. Which game do the three types of male side-blotched lizards play out?

• Hide and seek
• Rock, paper, scissors (correct)
• Tug of war
• Musical chairs

Each type beats one rival but loses to the third, like rock, paper, scissors.

2. Which males are the largest and most aggressive?

• Yellow-throated
• Blue-throated
• Green-throated
• Orange-throated (correct)

Orange-throated males are the biggest and guard large territories.

3. How do yellow-throated males fool the bigger males?

• They look and act like females (correct)
• They play dead
• They change into a stick shape
• They hiss like a snake

Their colours look like a female's and they copy female displays.

4. What colour can some yellow-throated males turn during the breeding season?

• Orange
• Red
• Blue (correct)
• White

Some yellow-throated males transform into blue-throated males.

5. What does a side-blotched lizard lose along with part of its tail?

• Its colours
• Its social rank (correct)
• Its sense of smell
• Its ability to climb

A shorter tail means a loss of social status.

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