Summer is almost here. When the temperature goes up, we turn to cold drinks and ice creams to cool ourselves down. But the shovel-snouted lizard has an innovative way to cool off. When the weather becomes too hot-it starts to dance!
The shovel-snouted lizard is found in the world’s third largest desert-Sahara, in Northern Africa. When the sand becomes too hot to stand on, the lizard balances itself on its tail and raises two of its feet at a time— alternating between front left and the rear right, and vice-versa—for about 10 seconds each. It does so to cool its feet. When the shovel-snouted lizard does this, it looks as if it is dancing
The shovel-shouted lizard can remain buried deep in the sand for an entire day.
It also uses the sand to its advantage to hide and hunt. When the lizard spots a predator, it dives and buries itself in the sand. It stays hidden under a layer of sand and pops only its head out. It does the same while hunting too. The lizard surprises its prey by quickly emerging from under the sand and grabbing it. It usually feeds on small insects like beetles, moths and spiders.