” New populations are still being reported and discovered– these lizards can hitchhike in cars, plant shipment trucks or boats, so they end up in a great deal of detached places,” Claunch stated. “We have numerous invasive lizards in Florida that funding and person-power is normally directed towards high concern species that are a direct danger to native threatened or endangered types, or to infrastructure, but the curly-tailed lizards successful spread makes it an intriguing case.”
Claunch is studying invasive lizard populations in Florida, and she was surprised to find the uncommon curly-tailed lizard. Along with Edward Stanley, director of the Florida Museums Digital Discovery and Dissemination Laboratory, she CT-scanned the lizard and found a massive fecal mass lodged in its enlarged stomach. It was so big that the surrounding organs were beginning to atrophy, and the poop comprised almost 80% of its body weight.
In a world where we frequently become aware of the large-scale effects of human activity on the environment (such as environment modification and logging), this case advises us that even relatively irrelevant actions, like tossing pizza scraps, can have a unpredictable and extensive influence on regional communities. While the discovery of the curly-tailed lizard with its record-breaking fecal mass might initially stimulate surprise or even humor, the ramifications are major and thought-provoking.
Image credits: Florida Museum/ Edward Stanley.
When researchers set out to study invasive lizard types in Florida, they werent expecting to stumble upon a groundbreaking, albeit regrettable, discovery. Claunch is studying intrusive lizard populations in Florida, and she was surprised to find the unusual curly-tailed lizard. Curly-tailed lizards are native to the Bahamas and Cuba, and they were initially presented to Florida in the 1940s to consume sugarcane pests. The female lizard was likely searching insects and other victim when it was tempted to a parking lot by pizza grease. Thinking it found a simple source of nutrients, the lizard began gulping the grease, consuming a bit of sand with each bite of pizza grease.
As Claunch and Stanleys research underscores, intrusive species frequently find themselves in new environments because of human actions, whether unintentional or intentional. As soon as there, they connect with these ecosystems in ways we dont completely understand, and the effects can be significant. This remarkable case of gastrointestinal blockage works as a vibrant cautionary tale about how our everyday behaviors– like food waste– can create obstacles for wildlife in unanticipated methods.
” I was blown away by how little room there was left for all the other organs — if you look at the 3D model, it has only a small space left over in its ribcage for the heart, lungs and liver,” Stanley stated. “It needs to have been a really unpleasant scenario for the bad lizard.”
The record poop-to-body ratio was nearly six times bigger than the previous one, held by a Burmese python. The unfortunate lizard was not able to digest the nutrient-depleted bolus and was essentially starving because she couldnt eat more.
Curly-tailed lizards are native to the Bahamas and Cuba, and they were originally presented to Florida in the 1940s to consume sugarcane pests. Believing it discovered an easy source of nutrients, the lizard began gulping the grease, consuming a bit of sand with each bite of pizza grease.
” When we captured it, we simply presumed the animal was prepared to lay eggs,” said Natalie Claunch, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Florida School of Natural Resources and Environment. “But when we went to feel for eggs, it simply seemed like it had plenty of Silly Putty.”
When researchers set out to study intrusive lizard species in Florida, they werent expecting to stumble upon a groundbreaking, albeit regrettable, discovery. Researchers were surprised to find a curly-tailed lizard so bloated they first presumed it was all set to lay eggs. Nevertheless, a CT scan exposed something even more stunning: an unprecedented poop-to-body weight ratio.
Its really not likely for an animal to suffer this type of problem in nature. Lizards typically only consume little pests and cant gulp a lot of sand at one time, and if they do, theyre most likely to become prey for their own predators. Once again human activity that paved the method for this to occur, it was.
Northern curly tails typically successfully pass big amounts of feces, as is seen in this healthy lizard. Image credits: Natalie Claunch.
The culprit? Pizza.
The scientists released their findings as a note in the Herpetological Review.