A significance muzzle – Nautilus

ALong northwest slopes of the Ecuadorian Andes lives a little lizard with a striking silhouette. Males of the species Probosciste anolis—Al was the Pinocchio lizard, among other common names – Long sport, proboscisis in the shape of a nose on the tips of their nurses. These appendages are rare on reptiles, and Pinocchio can be the only species that comes out of its egg with its already developed “horn”. As a male is completely cultivated at the length of a green bean, his horn is almost as long as his head.

Despite their distinctive profiles, the lizards of Pinocchio are difficult to find – they generally move slowly, perch on lean trees or twigs and blend with the surrounding vegetation. The first known Pinocchio lizard, a man, was documented in the Ecuadorian Andes in 1953; Over the next 13 years, researchers have discovered another handle. Then the species apparently disappeared for almost four decades. Ecologists feared that it would go out – a victim of deforestation in the region. But in 2005, a bird-storage group discovered a crossing a road near Mindo, in Ecuador. It turned out that the Pinocchio lizards were simply rare and incredibly difficult to spot.

“What is this proboscis for?”

After the species has reappeared from the ranks of possibly extinct, scientists took care of trying to find out more about it. One of the most convincing questions was: “What is this proboscis for?” In 2014, the researchers captured eight men and five women near Mindo and released pairs in a tree to observe their behavior. They learned that the lizard horn (which is not A nose – the lizard nostrils are on the top of its muzzle near the base of the Probosciste) is mainly a tool love When a male identifies a potential companion, he puts his exposed ornament, sometimes sweeping it back and forth in the air and turning it up like the wand of a fairy godmother, sometimes making it the bottom top while doing a puswup. He adds even more charm to his love display by revealing an extensible shutter on his throat, called dew.

Soft and flexible, the proboscis has much less utility as an army. The researchers also observed that when two male lizards clash, they could push each other with their horns, but generally hoist them before rushing forward to lock the jaws. They also raise their appendages when they eat. Exactly how they move the proboscis is still not understood.

Another unknown is how the species – which has not been confirmed in only four places, all close to Mindo – stands overall. The International Union for the Conservation of the Red List of the nature of the endangered species designates the lizard as being endangered and notes that it is sensitive to the degradation of the habitat. But we know at least now that Pinocchio lizards exist. And it’s not a lie.

This story originally appeared in biographicalAn independent magazine on nature and regeneration powered by California Academy of Sciences.

Nick Garbutt’s head photo

Nick Garbutt is an award -winning photographer of fauna and an author acclaimed by criticism known for his work in tropical forests. Zoologist of training, Garbutt’s trips took him from poles to the tropics, photographing fauna in many emblematic places of the world as well as in less glamorous and more unusual places. Borneo and Madagascar are among his favorites. Garbutt images appear in publications, especially National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Terra Mater, And Geographical.

• Shanna Baker

  Published on May 21, 2025

  Shanna Baker is editor biographical. His own writing and photography adventures took her to the territory of salt water crocodiles in northern Australia, parcels of rest of Garry oak ecosystems around the island of Vancouver, outposts far from Newfoundland and Labrador, and savages of the Central Coast of British Columbia.