The Snow Mountain Lizard

Hi! Please don't look scared when you hear my name, but I'm a lizard--the Snow Mountain lizard, to be exact.

I may not be much of a beauty, I admit, but I'm not all that ugly either if you look closely. I'm really pretty handsome for a reptile.

My relatives in the lizard family belong to twenty genera and more than 200 species, and they live all over the tropical, temperate, and frigid zones of Europe, Asia, and Africa--right up to the North-Pole almost, in fact.

On Taiwan we lizards are found everywhere from the seashore to more than 3,000 meters up in the mountains, in buildings and in cities just the same as in the great outdoors.

I'll tell you a little secret: we lizards are getting more and more important! I mean scientists are finding out that we make good subjects for research. You know why?

First, we're not too big or too small, making us easy to handle and dissect (not a particularly appealing prospect, I admit). Next we're easy to raise and convenient for study in the lab. And third, we're found practically everywhere and easy to catch. In a word, we make excellent "guinea pigs." You may not have thought about it, but we lizards have contributed to human knowledge too.

There are five species of lizards on Taiwan, four of us found nowhere else: Takydromus stejnegeri, Takydromus formosanus, Takydromus septentrionlis--and me!

All of us are long and thin in build. I'm the only one who's a little pudgy perhaps. It's not that I eat too much--mostly just mountain bugs. I was just born that way, you see. I can't help it.

I've got six to eight rows of scales along my stomach, a long, thin tongue, and a tail that breaks off easily but can grow back again. If it didn't, I wouldn't be long for this world!

Scientists who pry into our private business say we lay eggs twice a year, from May to July, two or three eggs at a time. The babies hatch in about a month. They're about two and a half centimeters long from snout to anus (that's the way they measure us, I'm afraid).

Let's change the subject, okay? The "Snow Mountain" in my name comes from where I was found: Hsiaohsueh Shan, or Little Snow Mountain. I was discovered there by Professor Cheng Hsien-yu of the Chinese Culture University.

The mountains are where I feel safe. I like to live about 2,400 to 2,500 meters high on mountains like Hohuan Shan, Tayu Ling, and Hsiaohsueh Shan.

My favorite places are broken rocks covered with bushes and vegetation. You want to know why? Instead of telling you myself, how about let's give Professor Cheng a chance to show his stuff! He says it's because that's where I can avoid my natural enemies (like birds) and that's where I can find my food. Pretty smart, huh?

Cold-blooded animals like me slow down unless our bodies reach a certain temperature, you know. Professor Cheng says my stomach is pretty flat and doesn't have any ridges on it, so when it's cold I can raise my temperature by lying on a rock in the sun. Interesting, isn't it?

If you don't mind, I'd like to call it one of natural talents, being able to seek out the right temperature. When I need to warm up I head for the sunshine, and when I'm too hot I take a break in the shade.

Because I'm so sensitive, I'm easily affected by changes in the environment. Scientists often watch changes in my physiology, distribution areas, or reproduction rates to observe relationships between the environment and living things, including relationships between the environment and man.

In fact, there aren't many of us Snow Mountain lizards, and we're considered a rare species. Besides studying us, Dr. Cheng says, people have got to set up a plan to protect us.

He's right, you know. Protecting me has advantages for people too. So why not go ahead and get started?

[Picture Caption]

The Snow Mountain lizard is a rare species unique to Taiwan that urgently needs to be protected.

A baby Snow Mountain lizard that has just been hatched seems reluctant to leave the nest.

Takydromus septentrionalis belongs to the same genus as the Snow Mountain lizard.

A baby Snow Mountain lizard that has just been hatched seems reluctant to leave the nest.

Takydromus septentrionalis belongs to the same genus as the Snow Mountain lizard.