Herps in the News:

Efforts to save the rare 'Pinocchio lizard' which was once thought extinct

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150402161654.htm

This article unveils that the horned anole lizard, or Pinocchio lizard that was one thought to be extinct made an appearance in 2005 when it was found in Ecuador. This brought much attention to the rare lizard in hopes to conserve it as well as study the species more. Scientists from Virginia Tech discovered that the lizard's long nose is used for social interactions, including male and female and male to male. They are particularly interested in learning it's natural history, behavior, and ecology to save it from extinction. This would be beneficial not only for us but also for the species. Because this lizard species is so old and rare, new discoveries and knowledge of it would better enable us to understand how older species of lizards are and make comparisons between more recently evolved lizard species.  This would further expand our knowledge in general phylogenetics and may aid in understanding the lizard phylogeny better and how other species may have similar and different traits. 

In order to conduct the research, professor Ignacio Moore and his team caught eleven lizards and videotaped two male confrontations along with copulations. Interestingly, they found that the lizards did not use their noses as a weapon, but preferred to use them for social displays.

By discovering the horned lizard's existence raises new questions as to how it fits in the lizard phylogeny, how different or similar they are from other lizard species and their natural history. Much more research has to be done in order to find some answers, but also to help save this lizards from extinction. There are only two other anole lizards that have this kind of nasal appendage, and with this lizard added to the list, scientists could possibly mend some gaps in the evolutionary tree. 

The article caught my attention because the lizard species that was known to be instinct in fact is not, and that brought awareness to me as to how rare it is, and we must conduct more research for their conservation. Although the article did not go into much detail about population size and predators, it did bring awareness of this unique species. The authors gave enough information to intrigue the reader and bring attention to the lizard species and it's contribution to evolutionary history. Though it suggested conservation efforts taking place, it lacked insight on that topic and was just simply stated.