A new study published on May 10 in the journal Royal Society Open Science has shown that in the Gila monster, a large venomous lizard, encounters between females are far more intense and violent than interactions between males.
When male Gila monsters fight, according to corresponding author A. Kristopher Lappin, a professor of Biological Sciences at Cal Poly Pomona, it is largely a ritualized contest.
“The males basically wrestle. They may nip at each other, but as far as we know, they don’t aggressively bite each other in a way that can do significant damage. With the females, we know based on the trials that they will bite each other violently. In all of the trials, the females immediately engaged. In three of the four interactions, the encounters had to be broken up before they could do significant damage to each other.”
This is the first paper documenting this behavior in the iconic Gila monster, which is native to the American Southwest and northwestern Mexico. Gila monsters are orange and black lizards with bead-like scales and huge teeth. They can grow to almost two feet in length, making them the largest lizard native to the United States.
Teeth to do a T rex justice. I was impressed.
What is that line from Kipling? I remember Tom Kelly reading it in his classic deep southern drawl.
Prior Gila monster post.