-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email When Dr. Lindsey Swierk studies water anoles in Central and South America, she can feel their presence even when she doesn't see them. The assistant research professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University studies Anolis aquaticus, the lizard best known for being semi-aquatic, color-changing and 5 to 8 inches long (13 to 20 centimeters.
) "When you walk out into the rivers where they live, you know that there are dozens of eyes on you, always," Swierk recalled. "They are so observant, always looking and watching, but staying very still on their favorite perches. I first noticed the lengths of their dive when I was trying to capture one, and it dove almost at my feet.
I spent a long time just staring at it, in wonder." Related Vincent van Gecko: Colorful new lizard species named after the famous painter Swierk's observations aren't just idyllic. In a recent study Swierk published in the journal Biology Letters , she revealed her latest discovery: Water anoles are able to survive underwater for extended periods of time, despite lacking gills, because they form a special bubble over their nostrils.
In addition to allowing them to breathe underwater, the bubble makes it possible for them to stay still under the surface for lengthy periods and avoid the attention of birds and snakes who perceive them as "the chicken nuggets of the forest." This is the first study to strongly indicate that a vertebrate species can use bubbles to brea.