By Whiting, on October 28th, 2020
By Iván Beltrán
Environmental temperature determines many important aspects of an animal’s life. In ectotherms, commonly known as ‘cold-blooded’ animals, the temperature experienced during embryonic development significantly impacts a hatchling’s physiology and behaviour. For instance, nest temperatures determine offspring sex in turtles and crocodilians and affect body size in squamates, a group comprised of . . . → Read More: How will global warming affect egg-laying and live-bearing species? We asked one of the most extraordinary lizards in the world
By Whiting, on September 13th, 2020
Post by Isabel Damas
One way invasive species can have a major impact on ecosystems, is by threatening native species, particularly through competition for resources. Animals typically use two strategies to out-compete their opponents: they can be directly aggressive (termed interference competition), or they can indirectly out-compete rivals by consuming more resources (exploitative . . . → Read More: Competing through eating: lessons from a lizard
By Whiting, on October 15th, 2019
Birgit recently gave a public lecture about her research on lizard cognition at a mini-conference “The Future of Herpetology, Inspiring Women and Forgotten Frogs: A conference promoting women’s voices in herpetology”. Watch her talk (below) and find out more about Birgit and her work on her web page.
Dr. Birgit Szabo talking about . . . → Read More: Dr. Birgit Szabo talks lizard smarts!
By Whiting, on August 23rd, 2019
The latest edition of Australian Geographic features the iconic Australian Frill-necked Lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingii). A big part of the article, written by John Pickrell, features our own Christian Alessandro Perez-Martinez! And the top of the page features his photo (reproduced at left). Well done Christian! Have a read of the article.
The paper, . . . → Read More: Australian Geographic features frilled lizard work!
By Fonti Kar, on June 27th, 2018
By: Fonti Kar & Julia Riley
“Never study an animal that is smarter than you” – Dr Martin Whiting
An adult female tree skink after performing the discrimination task we used to quantify their learning ability – she successfully removed the blue lid from this dish and accessed the food reward . . . → Read More: Tree skinks go to school: The complexities of social learning in lizards
By James Baxter-Gilbert, on June 17th, 2018
Animals often instinctively assess their environment, and display innate behavioural responses. For example, many newly born reptiles and fish know how to respond to predators – knowing when to “fight” and when to “flee” – right after hatching out of their eggs! Innate behavioural responses, especially in times of peril, may be the difference . . . → Read More: Up for a fight or doing a runner, for a lizard it could be in their genes
By Whiting, on June 12th, 2018
There was some interest in our recent paper on bluetongue lizards (blueys) and why they have this amazing blue tongue, which is actually a UV-blue tongue. (See our previous blog post.)
Here is an interview from ABC news:
Helen Shield interviews Martin Whiting on ABC radio, Hobart (nation wide). 11 June 2018. http://whitinglab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/ABC_radio_11.6.2018-1.mp3
. . . → Read More: The Bluetongue interviews
By Whiting, on June 8th, 2018
An enduring question among fans of blue-tongue lizards is why the blue tongue? Why have such an outrageously coloured tongue, given that the vast majority of lizards have a regular old pink tongue? Blueys (bluetongue skinks) are something of an Australian icon. They are part of Australian folklore and most Australians have encountered them . . . → Read More: Why blue tongue? A potential deimatic display has been uncovered in blue-tongue skinks
By Whiting, on December 2nd, 2017
It’s been a very busy year, which explains why I am only now writing this blog post from my trip to China earlier this year (May-June). I had the amazing opportunity of seeing one of the world’s most endangered lizards—the crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus), in the wild, and working with one of the largest . . . → Read More: Dispatches from the field: new adventures with endangered crocodile lizards and oriental garden lizards
By Whiting, on September 23rd, 2017
Imagine being a frog during the chaos of the breeding season and navigating the gathering crowds around the pond. How do you know who might be a suitable mate let alone whether they are male or female? One solution is colour. If one sex, typically males, is able to turn on some bright colour . . . → Read More: Turn up the colour: male frogs use bright colours to avoid confusion at the pond
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