May 14, 2006 10:29 am US/Central
CBS 2 At Brookfield Zoo: Sungazer Lizard
by Susan Carlson
(CBS)
Ever heard of a Sungazer lizard?
CBS 2's Susan Carlson introduces us to this prickly creature in this week's visit to Brookfield Zoo.
S: Good morning from Brookfield Zoo. I'm here with Andre Copeland and the Sungazer lizard. Now, if this was my pet, I'd call him Spike. The first thing you notice about him is his pointy appearance.
A: That's right. And I see that she has fooled you. They look so much alike that you can hardly tell the difference between the girls and the boys. So this is actually one of the female Sungazer lizards, and these scales are modified to act as a very, very unique but effective defense. Now for example, these animals would usually be found in South Africa hanging out on termite mounds. They get their name, Sungazer, because they would watch the skies for one of their major predators - any large bird or prey. Now if they spotted predators, which is a bird of prey, baboon or a lion, they can run down into a termite burrow. And, once they're in that burrow, they can expand their body with air, so these modified scales act like anchors, make it almost impossible for an animal to pull them out because a baboon or person wouldn't want to grab hard on to this spiked tail. If was a canine or a feline, by waving the tail back and forth, they could hit the predator in the nose - be enough discomfort to scare the predator away.
S: Wow, that's really interesting. And Andre, you said the population of Sungazers is actually very low. Why is that?
A: Well, one of the main reasons is because these animals will only have one offspring every other year. And they are unique in the reptile world because...the mothers will hatch the eggs out inside their bodies so that there's no placental attachment. They will give birth to live young, and believe it or not, this is going to make a lot of mothers cringe, the babies come out almost the same size as the mother.
S: Oh my goodness.
A: But fortunately, the scales are soft at that point in time, lay close to the body. After they've been out for a while, the scales will start to harden up.
S: Well, you can meet my little friend, I'm going to call you Spike, the Sungazer lizard, here at Brookfield Zoo.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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