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News From the Field

Adaptable lizards illustrate key evolutionary process proposed a century ago


September 6, 2018

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Side-blotched lizards in most of the Mojave Desert have tan and brown markings that blend in well with their desert surroundings. On the Pisgah Lava Flow, however, one finds a very different population of side-blotched lizards, as black as the rocks they live on. How do animals invade new environments? Light-colored lizards on a lava flow should be easy picking for predators, so how did they survive long enough to evolve darker coloration? Full Story

Source
University of California, Santa Cruz

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