She compared genetic samples collected from the Cincinnati lizards to samples taken from the reported source population in Europe and confirmed a substantial loss of genetic diversity indicating a genetic bottleneck. Thesis added credibility to Rau's saurian saga. Research conducted by Cassandra Homan for her 2013 University of Cincinnati M.S. He also repeated his story in several interviews with the news media. The lizard story may ring like local folklore however, George Rau wrote a letter in 1989 to herpetologists at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History detailing his role as the lizard leader. Of course, they should have been named "George's Lizards" in honor of their true patron. Local residents called them "Lazarus lizards" in misplaced recognition of the lizard's perceived sponsors. Some of the European scaly ex-pats thrived to eventually become so numerous that Torrence Court became known as Lizard Hill. George smuggled a few (6 to 10 depending on the reference source) through customs to release them into the landscape at his family's home on Torrence Court located in the eastern Cincinnati suburb of East Walnut Hills. In 1951, 10-year-old George Rau Jr., step-son of Fred Lazarus III, came across some common wall lizards scurrying across rocky slopes while on a family vacation to Lake Garda in northern Italy. It's associated with the Lazarus family best known in Ohio for their connections with department stores. The name "Lazarus" has nothing to do with sacrificing a tail to escape death and rise again. The swollen area is most likely where the old tail broke off allowing the Lazarus lizard to survive an attack by a predator. You may spot a lizard with a slight swelling at the base of its tail. If you're visiting Greater Cincinnati in the summer or early fall, keep your eyes peeled for small lizards scurrying over rock walls, darting across sidewalks, and lurking in landscaping. This further confuses predators and no doubt gives them nightmares. Lovecraft, their break-away tail continues to writhe and wiggle long after it’s severed. The ability for an animal to shed appendages if seized by a predator is called autotomy which is derived from the Greek words for “self” and “severing.” Lazarus lizards don’t turn tail and run, they drop tail and flee. If you're a native Cincinnatian, you would likely call them Lazarus Lizards. If you live in Europe, they are Common Wall Lizards. If you're an American herpetologist, you call them European Wall Lizards. I eventually learned the lizard's common name is influenced by where you stand, literally. But I could not find the saurian outpost known as Lizard Hill on any map. I knew how to find Over-the-Rhine, Columbia-Tusculum, and Carthage. I had developed a taste for goetta after visiting Goettafest across the Ohio River in Covington, KY. I had enjoyed Cincinnati Chili, which is served on a spaghetti plate, not in a chili bowl. However, I thought that I had become familiar with most of the eccentricities of the Queen City. She also said they had migrated throughout the city from Lizard Hill. I asked a native Cincinnatian if they could identify the lizards and was told they are “Lazarus lizards” and they have detachable tails. My long fascination with these non-native natives (that’s not a misprint) began several years ago when I observed lizards that I could not identify scurrying around a landscape on Reading Road (SR 42) near downtown Cincinnati. However, I’m resurrecting these fascinating reptiles based on spotting a few skittering around on a rock retaining wall near my home in Butler County, just north of Cincinnati. I’ve posted several BYGL Alerts over the years about the so-called Lazarus Lizards ( Podarcis muralis, family Lacertidae).
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