Global Climate Change Driving Lizards to Extinction (6 of 15) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Global Climate Change Driving Lizards to Extinction (6 of 15)

Caption

The cool mountain habitats where many of the Sceloporus lizards are found have been subjected to very rapid climate warming, resulting in the local extinction of many species, including Sceloporus mucronatus (pictured here: a pregnant female). These are live-bearing lizards that evolved very low body temperatures for these cool environments and this low body temperature makes them extremely susceptible to extinction from climate warming. This image relates to an article that appeared in the May 14, 2010, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Barry Sinervo of University of California, Santa Cruz, and colleagues, is titled, "Erosion of Lizard Diversity by Climate Change and Altered Thermal Niches."

Credit

Barry Sinervo

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