Site of the Week
Lizards http://www.discovery.com/exp/lizards/lizards.html
Fascinating though it may be, this site should perhaps be avoided by the squeamish amongst you: one of the main menu items is “Squirting Blood”. For those of us who are left, the site features some of the more unusual aspects of lizard life, including blood-squirting, tail-shedding, poisons, psychedelia and parthenogenesis.
Before checking out the more bizarre sections, head for ‘Lizards of the World’ which, with the aid of the Flash plug-in, presents you with an interactive map of the world to explore. Click on a location and find out more about a wide range of amazing species - from the knob-tailed gecko and blue-tongued skink to glass lizards and thorny devils. The factfiles include zoomable pictures and even some short movies.
The blood-squirting appears under the lizard defence section, alongside a number of other remarkable protection strategies. Certain horned lizards aim a jet of blood from outlets next to their eyes at an attacking predator - pictures show just how effective this can be. Moving on to the ‘Lizards without Dads’ section, you can learn about the New Mexico whiptail’s incredible ability to reproduce without mating. Like aphids, females can clone themselves, giving birth to generation after generation of identical daughters - all without the aid of sperm.
Blood and gore and female-only lizard societies? All a bit far fetched? Better go and see for yourself…
Richard Northover
Info-content *** Readability *** Appearance ** User friendliness ** Kids ***** Plug-ins Flash