A team of researchers studying a specific population of lizards in Arizona for 10 years believes the species may be extinct. This is likely due to climate change causing rising temperatures in the lizards’ habitat.

• The Yarrow’s spiny lizard had lived in the Mule Mountains for 3 million years.
• These lizards were restricted to higher, cooler elevations due to the hot desert floor.
• Researchers easily tracked the population because the lizards liked to sun themselves on rocks.
• In 2014, the lizards were no longer found at lower elevations due to rising temperatures.
• By 2021-2022, the lizard population had disappeared entirely from the previously documented areas.
• The researchers believe this rapid extinction is linked to rising temperatures and the lizards’ inability to move to a cooler habitat as their mountain environment warms.
• The limited elevation of the mountains means there’s nowhere for the lizards to go as temperatures continue to rise.

Read more at the CBS News website.