Wildlife: Year of the Lizard


This is Passport to Texas

The non-profit Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, or PARC, designated 2012 as the Year of the Lizard.

06—Lizards are a group of organisms that scientists have said: you know, we really haven’t paid much attention to what’s going on with them.

Biologist, Leeann Linam, oversees the Texas Nature Tracker program for Parks and Wildlife. When lizard populations are thriving—or not—chances are they are mirroring the environmental conditions in which they live. Because of this, they deserve our attention.

Leeann says putting the spotlight on these cold-blooded creatures may help us warm to them.

14—if you stop and watch a lizard, they’re really an interesting creature. And I think that’s what the challenge is for us—to spend enough time outside to really observe them. If you zoom in on them, and take a closer look, they’re just really fascinating—like mini dinosaurs.

So how does one best observe the year of the lizard?

14—At Parks and Wildlife we we’ve got some ways for people to participate. For example, our Texas Horned Lizard Watch asks people to become partners with us in monitoring what’s going on with our state reptile—the Texas Horned Lizard—and the other two horned lizard species that are found in the state.

Find links to information about the Year of the Lizard, and the Texas Horned Lizard Watch at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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