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John Dicus | all galleries >> The Lower 48 States, Continental USA >> Inland San Diego County, California. Spring 2008 > Coast Horned Lizard 3
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06-APR-2008 John Dicus

Coast Horned Lizard 3

Here you can tell how these critters eventually come to match the color of the soil where they live. Many color variations occur in lots of reptiles geographically for the same reason. The individuals in the population which do not closely match the soil color stand out more and become prey items for predators - so they don't pass on their genes for those unmatching colors. Over time this leaves the population with only soil-color-matching individuals in the gene pool.


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bill friedlander06-Feb-2009 16:19
The camouflage is striking. Good nature shot.