Lizards Have a Homing Instinct

[FamTimes reporter Park Joo-hye] Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that lizards can return home even if they become lost.

For the study, behavioral ecologist Manuel Leal fitted tracking devices to 15 male anole lizards with yellow beards and placed them in trees far from their homes to see whether they could find their way back. Leal and his research team found that the lizards were able to return home, but they could not determine why.

Previous research failed to reach a conclusion about how pigeons find their way home, but a new theory suggests that they navigate using sound waves emitted by the Earth. If this is true, anole lizards may use the same system.

Leal's earlier research found that anole lizards are quite intelligent. In a study published in 2011, he said that the lizards "possess problem-solving skills associated with mammals and birds." He also said, "Anole lizards can solve new problems, remember solutions and avoid reusing unsuccessful approaches." The lizards' level of intelligence may be surprising, but not to Leal.

He said, "These advantageous learning and behavioral abilities are normal for anole lizards. Because their environment is constantly changing, it makes no sense that lizards would be unable to learn new things. The likelihood of starting over from scratch is very small."

Reporter Park Joo-hye fam1@pcss.co.kr