Re: The Lizard of Oz

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

Christopher Robert Noto wrote:

> ah, but if they could find a faster way down from the branch to the
> ground...perhaps a little bugger in the past jumped from branches.  just
> because it isn't done today doesn't mean that it was never done in the
> past. just more fanciful thoughts...take it with a couple grains of >NaCl.

I'll take it salt-free.  :-)  This is *exactly* the kind of idea I was 
driving at.  True, the Frilled lizard does not get down to the ground by 
leaping off branches.  But, how much more efficient it would be just to drop 
out of the trees (as some other lizards do - see below).  That way, apart 
from landing close to the prey, the predator could keep its eye on the prey 
the entire time.


David Marjanovic wrote:

> If I have correctly understood, these lizards don't jump down from their
> trees (unlike cats...) but run down the trunk, which makes the evolution of
> anything involved with aerodynamics rather improbable.

I'm not suggesting that birds evolved from Frilled lizards.  But maybe birds 
evolved from "sit-and-wait" predators that took a short cut to get to the 
ground.  As Chris says, just because it doesn't happen today, doesn't mean 
it didn't happen in the past.

Frilled lizards are not the only reptiles today that use bipedal locomotion 
for catching prey (although apparently it is the only species that uses it 
for foraging).  Basilisks (_Basiliscus_) are capable of bipedal locomotion - 
for catching flying prey (such as butterflies) or for sprinting (such as to 
escape predation themselves).

Basilisks are primarily arboreal and *do* drop out of trees - not to hunt 
but as a fright response.  And they usually prefer to fall into water (often 
followed by their famous impersonation of Jesus, though I don't believe Our 
Savior actually *ran* on water - more of a casual stroll compared to the 
bat-out-of-hell bolting we see in basilisks).


Tim



------------------------------------------------------------

Timothy J. Williams

USDA/ARS Researcher
Agronomy Hall
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50014

Phone: 515 294 9233
Fax:   515 294 3163

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