„A semiaquatic lizard, the diving anole, uses a head bubble to breathe underwater, evading land predators.” (Page 2 ) | September 20, 2024

Minutes pass, but the anole doesn’t surface for air, as these lizards typically do. Instead, the submerged lizard crouches on a river rock, a small air bubble atop its head expanding like a balloon and then shrinking. Like a scuba diver, the reptile is breathing a reservoir of stored oxygen.

Using this bubble helps anoles prolong their stay underwater, according to Dr. Lindsey Swierk, an assistant research professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University in New York. Footage that Swierk recently captured of submerged anoles shows prominent bubbles swelling and deflating on the reptiles’ heads. This technique could help anoles hide from predators on land, Swierk reported Tuesday in the journal Biology Letters.

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