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Ancestor: Zootoca vivipara (Common Lizard)
Descendants: Broad-scaled Lizards
Spider Lizards
Juveniles could be mistaken by the unaware as a separate species. They are built for a faster-paced lifestyle than the adults, who are slower but much more robust and can tough out a few bee stings.
Temporal Range:
Temporal Range:
Evolved: Around 50,000 Yh (By 100,000 Yh)
Extinct: By 2 Myh.
Geographical Range:
Geographical Range:
Location: SouthWest Clatland, from the subtropical shrublands at the South of their range to the tropical arid sparse grasslands furthest North of their range.
Viable Habitat: Open tropical shrubland to dry hot grassland, sometimes found in desert oases if they're stable enough to grow palms. Prefers locations that have trees, even if they are just palm trees. This is because bee species that usually have large hives usually also need trees for providing their nests shade and elevation from threats. However, they can survive at a lower population capacity without these.
Size: 30 cm
Weight: 17 grams
Dietary Needs: Invertebrates and occasionally fruit. Can last a long time without feeding or drinking but needs to replenish with high fat and high protein food sources. In the case of the adults who have thicker, bumpier overlapping scales, honey bees and their larvae are accessible and a large feast can be found all in one place. They passively and unavoidably consume traces of honey, which also gives them some of the immediate energy they need to remain active against attacking bees. However they have a low taste tolerance for too much honey (they taste the pollen as a sharp perfume taste) and don't seek it, preferring the bees and larvae. The benefit of this is that by not consuming too much honey, they avoid dehydration.
Life Cycle: Some females complete their offspring's development internally and abandon them at birth, and some lay eggs and abandon them. There is no parental care. Whether a female is oviparous or viviparous is determined maternally. There is a second maternally-derived variation amongst females. Brighter females have lower clutch survival chance, but produce more offspring. These females tend to have faint traces of green on their underside as well as the bright yellow tummy scales. Drab females have a higher clutch survival chance, but produce fewer offspring. They have darker browner tummy scales and there is no green, only browns. This variation within the population may allow the lizards to adapt on a population level to drastic changes in environmental conditions or food availability. Females resist mating and will only be copulated by males that can overpower them.
Other: They have more flexible neck and spine, as well as slightly elongated neck vertebrae. This gives them greater range of movement for defending themselves against bees attacking from behind, as well as contorted wrestling when competing with each other.
They also have long toes with hooked claws and are good climbers.
They sometimes eat the bees that try to overwhelm them, like this individual. However they can still be killed by too many bees.
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