AUSTRALIAN FANTASY ADVENTURES

I AM THE LIZARD KING. I CAN DO ANYTHING.

- Jim Morrison, Singer

This week Lizards will Reign!

- Jeanne Rogers, Author

Lizards come in all shapes, sizes and colors. There are so many different types that I thought we might spend this post talking a little bit about just a few of them. So gather the kids around and let’s take a look at Lizards!

Lizards have been demonized in myth and literature. For instance, do you remember the mention of lizards in Shakespeare’s Macbeth?

"Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble - fillet of fennel, snake, toad, adder's fork, lizard's leg..."

Umm…’lizard’s leg—why just the leg? I would think the forked tongue might do a lot of magical damage!

Here in the US, we have our own mythology about lizards. For example, there’s the Lizard Man of South Carolina. He’s a cryptid. A cryptid is a creature that supposedly exists, but there is no scientific documentation to support their existence. The Yeti is a cryptid and so is Big Foot. It seems to me that these cryptids are based more in entertainment than reality. I mean, who isn’t entertained by the idea of a giant lizard-like dinosaur inhabiting Loch Ness? And I guess South Carolinians really get a kick out of the idea of a seven-foot tall lizard-man roaming their swamps. Now, as far as I’m concerned truth is much stranger than fiction (supposed fiction). I’m going to mention a few lizards in this post to support that statement. Let’s have some fun!

THE BASILISK

The Basilisk is also known as the Jesus Christ Lizard because it can walk on water. This lizard is endemic to Latin America and is not considered endangered. Tell me that a lizard that walks on water is not more fascinating than a mythological Lizard Man of South Carolina! Watch him, then tell me what you think.

To learn more, go to MongaBay Kids: http://kids.mongabay.com/animal-profiles/green_basilisk.html

THE FRILLED LIZARD

The Frilled Lizard lives in Australia and New Guinea. It is not endangered, but it is a very interesting looking lizard. It spends most of its life in the trees and when it comes down to the ground, it can run really fast. It also makes such a fuss that its predators will simply walk away with a stunned look. J Watch this!

To learn more, go to Animals A-Z, Frilled Lizard:

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/frilled-lizard/

SHOVEL-NOSED LIZARD

The Shovel-Nosed Lizard lives in one of the most inhospitable places on the planet, the desert of Namibia. Like so many other amazing animals on earth, the Shovel-Nosed Lizard has learned how eek out a living in what may seem to us, to be the worst and hottest of all places.

So how does the little guy stay cool? Well, it defies the telling, so take a look at the video.

To learn more, go to:

http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~varanus/lacertids3.html

And last, but certainly not least, the KOMODO DRAGON

The Komodo Dragon is the world’s largest lizard, and if you ask me the scariest. He is so big that he is capable of bringing down a deer or a water buffalo. This giant lizard is endangered and I for one would not like to see it disappear from the planet. He is unlike any other lizard and the ultimate predator. Watch the video and pay a bit of attention to the one shot where the narrator is sitting near the Komodo. Take note how the size of the Komodo actually dwarfs the man. Now that’s the stuff of fantasy.