Pushups and Head Bobs
Males charm females and stake their claims to a glade’s best rocky real estate by bobbing their heads and doing pushups.
Ring Around the Collar
The foot-long lizards get their name from two dark lines that circle their necks like the collar on a shirt.
Green Streaks
Collared lizards use their speed to chase down dinner, like grasshoppers, and escape from predators, like roadrunners.
Flashy Fellas
Male collared lizards are more colorful than females. In May and June, males wear their brightest scales to charm a mate.
Tight Turn Tail
A collared lizard steers with its rear, swinging its long tail out for balance when it tears around tight turns.
Rapid Reptile
When a collared lizard needs to scurry in a hurry, it stands upright and runs on its hind legs. In this position, it can reach speeds of 15 miles per hour.
Also In This Issue
Nature abounds nearly everywhere — if you know how to look for it.
The Show-Me State doesn’t have sandy, cactus-filled deserts, but it does have rocky, sun-scorched sites where plants and animals must be tough to survive. These hot spots are called glades. And while glades indeed get toasty, the plants and animals that live there are super cool.
And More...
This Issue's Staff
Photographer – Noppadol Paothong
Photographer – David Stonner
Designer – Marci Porter
Art Director – Ben Nickelson
Editor – Matt Seek
Subscriptions – Marcia Hale
Magazine Manager – Stephanie Thurber