It’s all about getting attention. We’re not referring to the reason motorists blast booming music through their cars’ tinny speakers, or why those bored-looking folks toss and twirl furniture sale signs on the corner of Swan and Fort Lowell roads.
We’re talking about why lizards do push-ups. While we can come up with theories that range from absorbing warmth from a tree limb to stretching their legs after a lengthy nap, the real reason lizards to push-ups is simply to get attention.
This is just one of the juicy local wildlife questions that keeps many a Tucsonan awake at night, kicking at the covers and unable to rest, lest we get to the bottom of such sweet mysteries.
It’s the male lizards that engage in the push-up practice, the Discovery Channel explains, for the sole purpose of letting other lizards know a lizard He-Man is on the scene.
And what a He-Man feat these push-ups are. Perched on all fours, the full-body push-ups fully thrust the lizard’s entire frame up and down in quick succession — probably more exercise than some people get in a month.
If the push-up ruse works according to plan, all female lizards within viewing distance will suddenly swoon and have the urge to mate with this push-up pounding He-Man. All other male lizards will steer clear — unless, of course, they are bigger and badder than the push-up lizard king, in which case they’ll beat him up or eat him.
Other Tucson wildlife doesn’t need to do any fancy schmancy exercise moves to get our attention. Most of us have all had our heart stop at least once at the sound of a rattlesnake’s rattle. If we’ve taken our pooches to rattlesnake-avoidance training, our dogs even stop before we do.
The mystery here is not why our heart or our dogs stop when we encounter a rattlesnake — the innate desire to live takes care of the former, while the shock collar took care of the latter. The mystery is how fast a rattlesnake can rattle, one of life’s great inquiries, that is right up there with the question of how much wood a woodchuck could chuck.
While we may never know the answer to the woodchuck question, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum tells us a rattlesnake can rattle its rattle more than 60 times per second. That’s a wow. That’s also much faster than the lizard does his push-ups.
The snake’s rattling speed beats out two other fast-moving desert critters: the lesser long-nose bat. and the hyperactive hummingbird.
While bats do swoop and soar at great velocities, especially when they aim for our bangs, their top flying speed is a scant 14 mph. This would have been impressive, of course, three paragraphs back before we knew about the rattlesnake’s rattling speed. The bat’s mere 14 mph, however, calculates to a scant 0.23 miles per minute, or roughly .004 miles per second.
Big deal. Even Tucson traffic moves faster than that.
Despite their dietary staple of bright red sugar water and their claim to fame as the only bird that can fly backward, hummingbirds also fall short on speed when compared to the rattlesnake’s rattle.
While they, too, can swoop at our foreheads with great velocity, their flight speed is nothing compared to their heart rate. Their little hearts bang around in their chests at the astonishing rate of 1,260 beats per minute.
Although such a heart rate would most likely make a human’s head explode, it only calculates to 21 beats per second. That is still much slower than a rattlesnake’s rattle, yet impressively quicker than the brain-rattling music that booms from a tinny car speaker.__
Ryn Gargulinski, aka Rynski, is a writer, artist, performer and poet. Her radio show airs every Wednesday and her column appears every Friday. See more writing and art from RYNdustries at ryngargulinski.com and rynski.etsy.com.
Lizards, with their extraordinary variations, have helped transform what ecologists thought possible in a single species.
Boasting more than 7,000 different types, the reptiles are found around the world and range widely in size, scale and—often bizarre—abilities.
Martin Whiting, professor of animal behavior at Sydney's Macquarie University, gave Newsweek his thoughts on why lizards are of enduring interest to experts.
He said: "Lizards have long been a source of fascination to naturalists and scientists alike because of their extreme variation in body size, form, behavior, and the remarkable ways they have adapted to their environments.
"More recently, scientists have used them to understand key life processes, including natural selection. From studies of lizards, we have a far greater understanding of how animals respond to significant changes in their environment, which is a big issue in an era of global warming and urbanization."
Why do lizards do pushups and can they swim? Read on to learn some fascinating facts: from their weird rituals to their hidden talents.
1. Why Do Lizards Do Pushups?
Grabbing another's attention can always be tricky, especially from a distance.
However, lizards have evolved a successful head-turning technique to do just that.
Dr. James Stroud, Postdoctoral Researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, said many lizards have developed an exhausting ritual as they "cannot make noise to communicate."
He told Newsweek: "Some lizards, such as tropical iguanas or American fence lizards, instead do pushups.
"This behavior conveys information about that individual, like how strong and fit they are, as both a warning to potential competitors and to attract potential mates."
2. Some Lizards Wave 'Flags'
Owners of lizards such as the Bearded dragon, will know its name bellies its gentle and relaxed nature, which is known for occasionally giving onlookers an apparently cheerful "wave".
Dr. Stroud said: "Instead of doing pushups, some lizards have evolved a more elaborate way to visually communicate.
"These species are able to extend flaps of skin under their chin, throat fans known as 'dewlaps', and perform beautiful display patterns, advertising their attractiveness to other lizards."
3. Some Lizards Have Sticky Toes
Anyone who has witnessed a reptile scale a wall, building or tree with unnerving ease knows lizards possess some unbelievable climbing skills.
Dr. Stroud states this seemingly gravity-defying ability is because lizards have evolved special anatomy.
He said: "Some lizards, like geckos and Anole lizards, have evolved sticky toes that enable them to hold on better to slippy surfaces high in the treetops, such as the smooth sides of leaves.
"My own research has explored how these sticky features have evolved more than once in different types of lizards."
4. Some Lizards Can 'Fly'
Life is perilous in the jungle, meaning animals unable to fight back against predators must evolve clever new methods of escape.
Dr. Stroud said one lizard has taken the term "fight or flight" to a literal level.
He said: "In the rainforest of southeast Asia, there is a peculiar group of lizards with a unique ability: they can "fly".
"The flying dragon lizards, known as 'Draco', have flaps of skin between their front and hind legs that can be opened out like a parachute, enabling these lizards to glide from tree to tree in the rainforest."
5. Some Lizards Have Green Blood
Like most animals, nearly all lizards have red blood. However, Dr. Stroud points one "peculiar" lizard living deep in the rainforest of Papua New Guinea is an anomaly: its blood runs green.
He said: "The Latin name given to this species represents this weird fact: Prasinohaema [means] Green (Prasino-) blooded (-haema)."
And a study published in 2018 suggests this bizarre lime-green blood has evolved independently several times in lizards.
Experts hope by understanding how these weird reptiles might benefit from green blood may eventually offer insights into human illnesses such as jaundice and malaria.
6. Some Lizards Can Swim Underwater
Dr. Stroud states while most lizards live on land, everywhere from searing deserts to the most humid rainforests "some lizards have evolved to specialize for a wet life."
He said: "In the Galápagos, marine iguanas swim in the sea and dive underwater to feed on algae growing on submerged rocks.
"While in the rainforest of Costa Rica, the aquatic Anole lizard is able to re-breathe air in its lungs like a scuba diver, allowing it to hide underwater when escaping from predators."
7. Some Lizards Can Extend Their Tongues to Catch Food
Standing at the apex of extraordinary animals is the Chameleon, a lizard species able to change its color as a remarkable form of social signalling.
But if that was not incredible enough on its own, the reptiles can also famously flick their long, sticky tongues to catch their meal as it eventually lands.
Dr. Stroud describes this as "a really cool feature", adding: "They are able to shoot out their tongue to catch insects from afar, allowing them to stay hidden and be much more successful hunters."
A 2016 study found this is achieved by the chameleon releasing its tongue muscles, in turn allowing its tongue to spring forward and capture its insect.