大象传媒

Ancestors of the lizards went one step further than the amphibians who had emerged on to dry land before them - they completely cut their ties with water. They evolved scaly impermeable skins and moved into the prehistoric forests where they diversified into a multitude of different shapes and sizes and developed a range of signalling systems to communicate with one another. They also squabbled over mates and territory, and hunted insects which were already abundant on the land. And, of course, they had families. The first lizards powered their bodies not just with food but with the heat of the sun, eventually coming to dominate the baking deserts. In the Australian outback, big lizards like the Australian monitor lizard are able to rear up and defend themselves with their front legs if threatened. They鈥檒l eat almost anything they can catch.