Sleepy Lizards Deemed Monogamous by GPS Tracking Data

10 May 2016

Tiliqua rugosa, more commonly known as the “Sleepy Lizard” because they love to sleep, have recently been deemed monogamous creatures.

The Sleepy Lizard is only found in Australia, and until now, not much has been known about the behavior of these animals.

Researchers from Flinders University in Adelaide and Murdoch University in Perth recently concluded a two-year study of Sleepy Lizards who reside in scrub between South Australia’s Morgan and Burra.

As part of the study, researchers tagged the lizards with GPS tracking devices and monitored their behavior 24 hours a day. What the researchers found was pretty interesting.

There are four types of Sleepy Lizards: shingleback, stumpy, stump-tailed and pine cone. These lizards are mostly known for their odd appearance, strong bite and sleep patterns, which used to be the only thing people thought set them apart from other lizards; however, a two-year study with GPS tracking devices has taught researchers that there is much more interesting characteristic that sets the Tiliqua rugosa apart from other lizards: It’s a social reptile (one of the few in the world), and it’s monogamous.

According to Stephen Leu, a post doctoral fellow at Flinders University who specializes in animal behavior, this study found that Sleepy Lizards actually have partners, whom they pair up with for decades at a time.

Mr Leu noted that this type of behavior is very uncommon among reptiles. Typically, lizards are solitary beings that have territories, but they don’t usually form social groups. Given the typical nature of other lizards, and the monogamous pairing of the Sleepy Lizard, these animals are quite unique, indeed.

According to Mr. Leu, the data collected from GPS tracking devices showed that female and male partners stay close together, with the males trailing about 20 centimeters behind their female partners.

In addition to the discovery of this interesting and unique behavior, researchers were also able to discover that Sleepy Lizards have a very large home range, compared to other lizards. On average, their home range is four hectares, which is pretty big for a lizard, especially for a lizard that has very short legs, like the Sleepy Lizard. The data from GPS tracking devices also found that these lizards move as much as 500 metres a day, which is pretty far, considering the length of their legs.


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