It’s Not ALL Rainbows as a Greater Earless Lizard

  But yes, there are rainbows involved. The Greater Earless Lizard (Cophosaurus texanus) knows how to woo the ladies. During mating season, which is in the spring, the males will have incredibly striking colors come out on their skin – reds, blues, greens, and yellows all pop from this dashing reptile. Even females (not pictured) get a little more colorful, changing from their usual basic tan to having hues of pinks and oranges line their flanks.

If you take a look at the belly of the male, shown above, you can see that its tail almost resembles that of a zebra (see it now?). No, that doesn’t happen only during mating season. That’s a permanent feature of this crafty little lizard. When it feels like it’s in danger, it will raise and wag its tail signaling to the approaching predator that: “Hey, I see you over there lickin’ your chops. Lemme just tell ya, that if you want a piece of this you’re going to have to invest a huge amount of energy… trying to CATCH ME!” Yes. That’s exactly what the lizard would say. Usually after hearing that, the rather lazy predator will then retort, “Hmph. I can find something tastier without that much work. L8ter.” (My predator happens to be a teenage skater boy in this case).

 Right… so how bout them lizards?!