43: Common Lesser Earless Lizard
I write to you from Arapahoe, Ute, and Cheyenne land. I am interested in learning about the different animals that live in the place where I was born. I want to mention that biological classification as taught by western science has its roots in racism, sexism, and transphobia – here’s a good explainer about why.
The name of today’s animal is… well… I’d be sad if it was my name. The Common Lesser Earless Lizard, also known as just the Lesser Earless Lizard (Holbrookia maculata), is a name that says to me, “I am a biologist who can only see what this animal lacks rather than what great qualities they do have.”
Earless lizards – of which there are around nine subspecies, though that’s somewhat disputed – live in the southwestern USA and in northern Mexico, largely in desert environments, but also in dry open grasslands. As a result, they have experienced some habitat loss from the introduction of cattle and sheep who overgrazed their homelands.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, they have no external ear openings. Scientists believe this is to prevent sand from entering their bodies as they dig into the soil.
They hunt by sitting and waiting for their prey, which is largely insects and spiders. They also claim territory with a wide range of delightful behaviors, including head bobbing and doing push ups.
They have a defense mechanism known as a “blood sinus” which is, well, extremely metal. It is a small opening atop their head from which they can warm their entire body rapidly through sun exposure (such as poking a head out of a burrow in the morning). However, when threatened, they can also pump this blood through their sinuses and shoot it out of their eyes at predators. How could you name them “earless lizards” when “lizards who shoot blood out of their eyeballs” was on the table?