14 DAY TRIAL // Tall trees in remote cloud forests in Ecuador are home to a rare lizard species that might just be among the oddest ever to populate our good old planet.
The elusive creatures, one of which is pictured next to this article, are known to wildlife researchers as horned anole lizards. However, some like to call them Pinocchio lizards.
This is because males belonging to this species all have a bizarrely long and protruding nose. Interestingly, it looks like they don’t use this nasal appendage of theirs in combat.
Instead, the lizards appear to make use of it only during social interactions. Researchers suspect that the nose helps them attract females and intimidate rivals, Science Daily informs.
Still, this is yet to be confirmed. “The appendage is lifted during the social interactions although what role this specific movement plays is unclear,” says researcher Diego Quirola.
Like many other species, Pinocchio lizards are now in danger of falling off the biodiversity map. Scientists hope that, by learning more about their behavior, they might be able to save them.
Interestingly, the species was, in fact, considered extinct for well over five decades before wildlife researchers rediscovered it in 2005.
Apart from environmental shifts brought about by climate change and global warming, the species is threatened by the destruction of its natural habitat.