The Lizard Scientists: Studying Evolution in Action – Real Field Research on Adaptation and Climate Change for Kids (Ages 8-12)

Scientists in the Field

by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, Nate Dappen (Illustrator), Neil Losin (Illustrator)

In this groundbreaking, exceptionally researched installment of the award-winning Scientists in the Field series, discover how lizards rapidly adapt to life in the Caribbean islands, allowing scientists to study Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection in real time.

Award-winning author Dorothy Hinshaw Patent joins forces with scientists/filmmakers Neil Losin and Nate Dappen, whose work is detailed in the Smithsonian Channel documentary "Laws of the Lizard," to explore how the small but mighty lizards we call "anoles" are used by scientists to study basic principles of evolution and ecology.

Travel with the team to Florida and the Caribbean as they research how anoles followed similar but independent evolutionary paths on the four major islands of the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba). So while anoles on different islands may look like close relatives, they often are not! This is Darwin's principle of natural selection at work.

And it makes anoles the perfect subjects for experiments that study how animals adapt to new challenges--such as climate change--in this exciting and timely addition to a celebrated series.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

80 pages, Hardcover

First published December 13, 2022

About the author

As a child, my favorite activity was exploring nature, especially finding animals like frogs, toads, and lizards. I kept tropical fish, had a dog, and loved riding horses. My love of animals led to a Ph.D. degree from U.C. Berkley in Zoology. In grad school I met and married fellow student Greg Patent. Our two sons, David and Jason, were born before we finished school. I wanted to use my training and my knowledge, but I also wanted to raise my sons and be there for them when they needed me. I decided that writing the kind of books I'd always loved reading was a good solution to my dilemma, and that turned out to be true. One of my favorite things is learning new "stuff," and every time I tackle a new book project I get to indulge myself in that passion. I'm a lucky gal!

Fast forward to the present. Our sons are grown and have their own families. We live in Missoula, MT, where Greg is now a food writer (http://www.thebakingwizard.com) and a radio personality (httpp://www.mtpr.org--look for Food Guys). My writing has expanded to other nonfiction topics, especially ones dealing with the Westward Expansion period of U.S. history. I've taught writing classes in many venues, visited schools in most U.S. states, attended many conferences for teachers and librarians, won a number of awards, and had great travel adventures in pursuit of my subject matter.

Reviews

[Martha Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Another absolutely top notch Scientist in the Field book (published in late 2022). I would say this one rivals and perhaps even surpasses the terrific Snowy Owl Scientist, also published in 2022. Follow a whole team of different researchers who can study evolution in real time by looking at anoles, little lizards whose life cycle is about a year, so 3 generations take place in about 3 - 4 years. There is even a fascinating section on a study of how a hurricane changed the characteristics of the anoles; look at what characteristics allowed some anoles to survive a hurricane and what characteristics resulted in anoles washed out to sea. Thrilling and surprising! m2

[Lynn Strickland · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is well written and researched with great photographs. It is the book for someone who wants to know all about the evolution of lizards but was afraid not to find the right book. This is the book for any young scientists wanting to totally understand the world of lizards. This book would be great for any individual or library in the area of ecology.

[Karen McGuire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading this book after the first sentence of Chapter One on page 6. “Fast-forward from the Wildlife Film Festival “ ….. and no time reference is provided for the Festival. From when to October 13th, 2019???? There is no logic.
Oh well. I think a scientific book should provide logic.

[sottaceti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and enjoyable, but with at least two typos