Duke Lizard

It's been a while.

This is the duke lizard - a mimic lizard that preys on hummingbirds. It is called the Duke lizard as the plant it mimics is called the red duke. The duke lizard will hang down from branches with red dukes and stick out it's tongue to mimic the flower. When hummingbirds try to feed at the duke, the lizard strikes forward, crushing the birds ribs in to kill it instantly and swallowing it whole. This way of hunting and feeding requires minimum energy exposure, and duke lizards store their fat reserves in their tails like most geckos. This helps to balance the lizard when dangling from branches, as well as being an emergency energy supply.