Sleepy Lizards Study

[Overlandman]

From ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-26/l ... ed/7054474


Sleepy by name and sleepy by nature, but there is more to the lifestyle of the native lizard than you might credit at first glance.

Their behaviour — once poorly understood — has been observed and tracked in a patch of scrub between Morgan and Burra in South Australia.

The two-year study involving Flinders University in Adelaide and Perth's Murdoch University showed sleepy lizards were monogamous.

Sleepy lizards, also known as Tiliqua rugosa, are shingleback, stumpy, stump-tailed and pine cone lizards.

Post doctoral fellow at Flinders University, Stephan Leu, specialises in animal behaviour and said sleepy lizards were known for having a strong bite and peculiar appearance, but also had attributes setting them apart from other reptiles.

"It's one of the [only] social lizard species that exist in the world and on top of that it's a very monogamous," he said.

Mr Leu said sleepy lizards paired up with a partner for up to decades at a time.

GPS fitted to a sleepy lizard
PHOTO: The lizards keep the same partners for years. (Supplied: Stephanie Godfrey, Murdoch University.)
"It is not the most common social behaviour, lizards are predominantly solitary so they have territory but they don't form social groups like other Australian species, in that regards they are definitely unique," he said.

"You see a female and a male very close, usually the male walking behind the female about 20 centimetres apart, you can really see them cruise around as a pair."

Researchers monitored sleepy lizard behaviour by fitting them with GPS trackers.

"They walk around together so there's a lot of behaviours happening but it's not quite as easy to observe which is why we use GPS units on them to understand their behaviour which you can't see by following them," Mr Leu said.

GPS tracking also allowed research into the lizard's activity 24 hours a day and monitoring of entire local populations.

"Their home range on average is four hectares which for a lizard is relatively large, particularly if you have seen a sleepy lizard with very short legs.

"It's a relatively large range that they move around in and they move up to 500 metres a day and with its short legs it's quite a bit."

Sleepy lizards can have a life expectancy of more than 30 years.

[newhue]

Thanks Overlansman,
what a nice little story and use of technology. And great to get a glimpse into a world us humans know so little about, our natural one. Good on Flinders Uni which often seems to be associated with studies.