[img]http://www.newscientist.com/img/misc/ns_logo.jpg[/img]
[quote=NewScientist]
When the heat is on, lizards become smarter – potentially giving them a competitive edge as the world warms.
Previous research has shown that scincid lizards (Bassiana duperreyi) grow larger if their eggs are incubated at higher temperatures.
Joshua Amiel and colleagues at the University of Sydney, Australia, wanted to see if bigger lizards also make better learners, so they incubated nine eggs in cold conditions – 8.5 to 23.5  °C – and 12 in warm conditions – 14.5 to 29.5 °C.
Once hatched, the lizards were put in plastic containers equipped with two hideouts, one blocked off with Plexiglass and the other fully accessible. The researchers, playing predators, scared the lizards by touching their tails with a paintbrush and recorded where the lizards went. After 16 trials, five of the nine cold-incubated lizards still headed for the inaccessible hideout. Just one of the 12 warm-incubated lizards made the same mistake.
"Climate change might not be so bad for these guys," says Amiel.
[/quote]
[url=http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21339-lizards-may-be-made-smarter-by-warming-world.html]Source[/url]
It's only a matter of time now...
I for one welcome our new blah blah blah...
And I was expecting Dinosaurs
[QUOTE=squids_eye;34154675]I for one welcome our new blah blah blah...[/QUOTE]
Avatar fits.
Fun fact: The temperature a lizard is incubated at also determines the sex of the offspring. Males are generally produced from warmer nests, females from cooler nests.
If a male is produced from a mostly-female nest, he tends to have less masculine traits: a "cool male".
If a female is produced from a mostly-male nest, she tends to have more masculine traits: a "hot female".
[QUOTE=Elecbullet;34156274]If a male is produced from a mostly-female nest, he tends to have less masculine traits: a "cool male".
If a female is produced from a mostly-male nest, she tends to have more masculine traits: a "hot female".[/QUOTE]
Wait, what?
Those are terms which have been used to describe these gender-confused individuals.
I know all this because I used to have a gecko.
[url]http://www.reptilecare.com/leopardbreed.htm[/url]
Check section "Temperature - Dependent Sex".
So MAYBE bigger bearded dragons and geckos in the future??? I'm sure some breeder will experiment with this info and produce some monster lizards.
Argonians?
put eggs in oven
get dinosaurs?!
Is that a lizard in your pocket getting bigger or are you just happy to see me?
[QUOTE=Contag;34156527]put eggs in oven
get dinosaurs?![/QUOTE]
No, just dinner.
Oh God, they can open doors!
They seem to be rapidly growing in intelligence, they have learned how to walk upright...And it seems they have developed an Australian accent. Constantly transfixed on car-insurance, they roam the city streets talking to themselves, we have captured many and we still can't find the source of this peculiar phenomena. These are strange times indeed.
cool, going to buy a lizard, I will learn their secrets.
I'm ready to serve lizards, really they can just take control now.
[QUOTE=SpaceGhost;34157793]cool, going to buy a lizard, I will learn their secrets.[/QUOTE]
Chickens make better companions.
[QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;34157853]Chickens make better companions.[/QUOTE]
He's not looking for companionship, he's looking to uncover secrets.
Meanwhile, have fun staring at your chickens.
I am 100% OK with this.
[QUOTE=Nidhogg;34158482]I am 100% OK with this.[/QUOTE]
I wonder why.
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