Australian researchers have discovered that the Tiliqua rugosa or sleepy lizard, a member of the Scincidae family, recognize the smell of smoke as a sign of a nearby fire and attempt to flee, but do not respond to the sound of fire.
The study, published this month in Biology Letters, provides the first empirical test of a humorous anecdote: when the zookeepers at a zoo in the US burned lunch, they realized they were not the only ones to smell the acrid scent of smoke. The captive lizards became agitated by the smell spreading throughout the building, while other reptiles remained calm. Although largely captive-bred, the lizards moved their tongues, paced back and forth and tried to flee — a behavior that the researchers now show to be innate, not learned.
“Many animals from fire-prone regions, such as Australia, seem to have this miraculous ability to survive the burning of their homes. Our study shows that some lizards instinctively recognize smoke as a signal of an approaching fire and respond by fleeing,” says the lead author, Chris Jolly, of Macquarie University.
With wildfires intensifying due to climate change, it is crucial to understand how animals survive fires. While people often assume that wild animals caught in fires have little chance of survival, investigations reveal that many species have developed strategies to detect and escape fire.
This study suggests that fire-prone environments have shaped the sensory systems and behaviors of animals such as sleepy lizards, enabling them to respond to smoke as an early warning signal.
“As fires become more frequent, intense and unpredictable — including in habitats that rarely burned in the past, such as tropical forests — we need to know which species can respond to fire signals and which are most vulnerable,” said Jolly.
The work highlights the urgent need to understand the survival strategies of animals in a rapidly changing climate. Fires are becoming more destructive worldwide, and biodiversity loss is accelerating as species face new fire regimes.
