The Itsy Bitsy Lizard

n a sinkhole in a cave on an island in the Caribbean, two researchers found a lizard so small it can sit on a dime. Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State, and Richard Thomas, a biologist at the University of Puerto Rico, believe the lizard — at 16 millimeters long — is not only the smallest species of lizard but the smallest of any reptile, bird, or mammal. "It is hard to say whether this lizard is as small as a lizard can get, but you would think it is probably approaching that limit," said Hedges, who with Thomas has discovered more than 50 new species of amphibians and reptiles in the Caribbean. "The smaller an animal gets, the larger its surface area gets as a percentage of the volume or mass of its body. At some point, it gets to be physiologically impossible to get any smaller."

Notes from the Deep

n November, biologist Chuck Fisher was named head of the RIDGE 2000 program, which brings together 200 U.S. scientists under funding by the National Science Foundation to study the mid-ocean ridge system. RIDGE 2000 will explore the relationship between the geology along the boundary where Earth's tectonic plates originate and the life forms that thrive in that harsh environment in the absence of light. In December, Fisher embarked on the research vessel Atlantis to collect tubeworms, mussels, and clams in the submersible Alvin; see dispatches from the ship on Research/Penn State Online. While he was at sea, Fisher was awarded the C. I. Noll Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for undergraduate teaching awarded by the Eberly College of Science.