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Ancestor: Zootoca vivipara (Common Lizard)

Descendants: Aquazootoca (Water Zooter)
Herbalinea (Grasslins)

Size: 12 centimetres
Weight: 3 grams

Dietary Needs: Small invertebrates and seasonal fruit.

Life Cycle: Extreme R-strategist egg-layers, none of this species are viviparous. In the most hot and arid part of their range females seek dry cool caves and crevices during the approach to summer, usually near plants where leaves and plant debris has built up a soil. An overhang is preferred to keep the nesting area dry. Rain is usually rare in their habitat, but when it occurs it's usually torrential. Only eggs elevated from the downpour and flash floods will survive, and certain "perfect" areas become favoured by many as communal mating and nesting grounds. They lay their eggs in shallow burrows in soil that has more organic matter. The lack of direct sun and the insulation keep the egg temperature fairly regular. The population of adults can crash along with the insects in summer due to the high temperatures that can be reached. Extremes of rain and drought make the arid regions hazardous in summer too. Sometimes the eggs in elevated nesting sites are amongst the few survivors while most life above ground has been baked off by the sun, so survival of eggs is vital. This cycle is repeated to a lesser degree in winter, which has it's own cooler (but still hot) dry period.

The egg gestation time is extremely short, sometimes hatching the next day, while others can take much longer, weeks even. This is environmentally dependant. Week-long gestations are not really gestation as much as hibernation, as the metabolic rate has slowed to the point where no development occurs, they are just waiting for cooler, damper conditions. Eggs are also sac-like, but tougher and drier externally than the vestigial egg-sacs sometimes found on new-born lizards of other species on this planet.

Other: Tolerates the hottest temperatures that any lizard on this planet is able to tolerate, but must find shelter and go into a heat-induced sleep. When hot some skin folds in their neck and sides expand from blood flow, so they can quickly dump heat when they reach the shade. The folds also cast shadows to reduce the amount of skin exposed to direct sunlight. In cooler temperatures the skin tightens and appears smoother, and most blood remains internal. This only slows down drops in temperature, they become inactive in burrows on cold nights.

Can burrow into firm compacted sandy soil, but they cannot burrow quickly so they usually re-use the same burrow as a retreat. Because they are tiny larger animals cannot follow them into these pencil-thin burrows. If stranded out in the day and there is a lot of loose, coarse sand they can quickly bury themselves a few inches below the surface. If they are successful and go deep enough they can avoid becoming sun-dried and cooked.