Feb 28, 2024
check out this neat little guy i found in a park in northern california! he was iridescent, so cool!
Pretty sure this is a Sceloporus, which are just awesome lizards. Did you get a chance to see the belly? Because it can be just *stunning*.
[src]
#lizard#animals#Sceloporus#biology#hidden delights#nature#wildlife#the colouration is a measure of fitness of the males#there is SO much research on this#also the colour is enhanced in individuals that have malaria#for some reason#oh yeah lizards get malaria#I guess that might also be news to a lot of people#not Plasodium but a different genus#and tbh it is utterly bonkers#like there is one species of lizard that is host for two malaria species#but for the one species to infect#the other one has to infect it first#which is just silly#there was a brief moment where I thought my entire career would be lizard malaria#but a shitty potential supervisor who didn't give me the time of day shot down the idea completely#so I did my Bachelor's thesis on ratite birds instead#and here we are
