These Smart Lizards Camouflage Themselves by Choosing to Sit on Similarly Colored Rocks

Aegean wall lizards are at risk whenever they're out in the open to get a bit of sun. They're exposed with nowhere to hide their backs. Now, scientists have found how these lizards have adapted to prevent predation when they sun themselves on rocks.

"This suggests that wild individual lizards can choose to rest on the rock they will most resemble, which enhances their own degree of camouflage against visually-oriented predatory birds," said Kate Marshall, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This is the first result of its kind in wild animals, and in lizards specifically. One intriguing puzzle remains: how do the lizards 'know' how camouflaged their own backs are to a bird against a particular rock?"

Chameleons and geckos are able to rapidly change color in a matter of seconds or minutes in order to better match their background environment and avoid being spotted by approaching predators. Aegean wall lizards, which are widespread across the South Balkans and many Greek islands, though, are unable to do this. Instead, they have to find a rock that matches their color.

In this latest study, the researchers found that individual lizards showed better color matching against their own chosen rock backgrounds than against other lizards' rock backgrounds, as perceived by avian predators such as crows and raptors.

"This strongly suggests that lizards rest on backgrounds that heighten their own camouflage to reduce the risk of being attacked by birds, and that individual behaviors have an important role in enhancing camouflage across different microhabitats," said Marshall. "Our findings appear to be the first demonstration of this occurring in wild populations as viewed by likely predators."

The findings reveal that there's much more to camouflage than just appearance, such as how the animal behaves and the background that they choose.

The findings are published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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