Poop-Filled Lizard

Natalie Claunch was conducting research in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in 2018 when she came across a plump northern curly-tailed lizard near a beachfront restaurant. At first, Claunch, who is a wildlife biologist at the University of Florida, thought the lizard might be ready to lay eggs. But something seemed off, she says. “It felt like her body was full of Silly Putty.”

Sadly, the lizard died soon after Claunch found it. To learn what caused the lizard’s death, she used a medical-imaging machine called a CT scanner to look inside its body. The results were shocking! The lizard’s body was almost entirely filled with poop. Feces made up nearly 80 percent of its weight!

Next, Claunch examined the contents of the poop to find out what the animal had eaten. She discovered that it contained the remains of insects, a smaller lizard called a brown anole, and a lot of greasy sand. The grease had dripped from a leaky container behind the restaurant where the lizard was found, mixing with sand on the ground. Once eaten, the indigestible mix blocked the animal’s digestive tract.

Claunch learned a lot by studying this extreme situation. Understanding why it was harmful can help researchers better understand reptile health, as well as issues that can arise when the animals live near people. It also reminds us why it’s important to keep our environment clean, says Claunch. “In this case, cleaning up the grease spill may have prevented the lizard from eating the sand,” she says.