Wednesday, July 12, 2023

[Dave]

Well, if nobody else is gonna start a Daily, I will.

Three recent photos of fence lizards:

1) Based on its size this appears to be a youngster. One of the few times I've seen fence lizards in my yard, I think because they prefer having a light colored horizontal surface to bask on and nearby growth for escaping any threats; our yard has neither.

   

2) This one is full grown - it's one of the largest I've seen.

   

3) This shot shows the blue throat patch that adult males have. Probably used to either attract females or intimidate rival males.

   

You may have noticed the variety of coloring. This may be related to the age of the lizard, but I suspect it's something they change in order to more effectively absorb heat from the sun and from light reflected off whatever light colored surface they are basking on.

[Man From Ironbark]

Yes. Many lizards can change their skin pigment. Mainly it shows when they are fully charged or not. A lizard in the sun can darken its skin to help bsorb the light and it will get darker as it warms up. A light coloured lizard suggests that it is low in energy. Often startled lizards or under stress will lose colour.
er; excuse my vernacular. Lizards are cold blooded and charged up means they are fully warmed.