Editing Lizard (section)

===Communication===
{{main|Lizard communication}}
[[File:Green anole.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2<!--width for low image-->|A green anole (''[[Anolis carolinensis]]'') [[signalling theory|signalling]] with its extended [[dewlap]]]]
Lizards signal both to attract mates and to intimidate rivals. Visual displays include body postures and inflation, push-ups, bright colours, mouth gapings and tail waggings. Male [[anole]]s and iguanas have [[dewlap]]s or skin flaps which come in various sizes, colours and patterns and the expansion of the dewlap as well as head-bobs and body movements add to the visual signals.<ref name="Pianka-Vitt87"/><ref name=Firefly/> Some species have deep blue dewlaps and communicate with [[ultraviolet]] signals.<ref name="Pianka-Vitt86"/> [[Blue-tongued skink]]s will flash their tongues as a [[threat display]].<ref name="Langley"/> Chameleons are known to change their complex colour patterns when communicating, particularly during agonistic encounters. They tend to show brighter colours when displaying aggression<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ligon |first1=Russell A. |last2=McGraw |first2=Kevin J. |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2013.0892 |title=Chameleons communicate with complex colour changes during contests: different body regions convey different information |journal=Biology Letters |volume=9|issue=6 |page=20130892 |year=2013 |pmid=24335271 |pmc=3871380}}</ref> and darker colours when they submit or "give up".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ligon |first1=Russell A |doi=10.1007/s00265-014-1713-z |title=Defeated chameleons darken dynamically during dyadic disputes to decrease danger from dominants |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume=68 |issue=6 |pages=1007–1017 |year=2014|bibcode=2014BEcoS..68.1007L |s2cid=18606633 }}</ref>

Several gecko species are brightly coloured; some species tilt their bodies to display their coloration. In certain species, brightly coloured males turn dull when not in the presence of rivals or females. While it is usually males that display, in some species females also use such communication. In the [[bronze anole]], head-bobs are a common form of communication among females, the speed and frequency varying with age and territorial status. Chemical cues or [[pheromone]]s are also important in communication. Males typically direct signals at rivals, while females direct them at potential mates. Lizards may be able to recognise individuals of the same species by their scent.<ref name="Pianka-Vitt87">Pianka and Vitt, pp. 87–94.</ref>

{{Listen
|filename= Mating_call_of_a_male_Tokay_gecko_(Gekko_gecko).ogg
|title=Tokay gecko mating call
|description=[[Mating call]] of a male Tokay gecko
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Acoustic communication is less common in lizards. [[wikt:hiss|Hissing]], a typical reptilian sound, is mostly produced by larger species as part of a threat display, accompanying gaping jaws. Some groups, particularly geckos, snake-lizards, and some iguanids, can produce more complex sounds and vocal apparatuses have [[Convergent evolution|independently evolved]] in different groups. These sounds are used for courtship, territorial defense and in distress, and include clicks, squeaks, barks and growls. The mating call of the male [[tokay gecko]] [[onomatopoeia|is heard]] as "tokay-tokay!".<ref name="Langley">{{cite web|author=Langley, L.|date=24 October 2015|title=Are Lizards as Silent as They Seem?|publisher=news.nationalgeographic.com|access-date=9 July 2017|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151024-animal-behavior-lizards-reptiles-geckos-science-anatomy/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025213158/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151024-animal-behavior-lizards-reptiles-geckos-science-anatomy/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 25, 2015}}</ref><ref name="Pianka-Vitt87"/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Frankenberg, E. |author2=Werner, Y. L. |year=1992|title= Vocal communication in the Reptilia–facts and questions|publisher=Acta Zoologica|volume=41|pages=45–62|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285079253}}</ref> Tactile communication involves individuals rubbing against each other, either in courtship or in aggression.<ref name="Pianka-Vitt87"/> Some chameleon species communicate with one another by vibrating the substrate that they are standing on, such as a tree branch or leaf.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Barnett, K. E.|author2=Cocroft, R. B.|author3=Fleishman, L. J.|year=1999|title=Possible communication by substrate vibration in a chameleon|journal=Copeia|volume=1999|issue=1|pages=225–228|url=http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/cocroft/Publications/RBC%20pubs/1999%20Cocroft%20Copeia.pdf|doi=10.2307/1447408|jstor=1447408|access-date=2017-07-11|archive-date=2021-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216044500/http://www.biosci.missouri.edu/cocroft/Publications/RBC%20pubs/1999%20Cocroft%20Copeia.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>