Lizards are smart. At least, anoles are.

Green anole: smart!

It seems every other month there's a story about scientists discovering that "dumb" animals aren't dumb at all. We've seen it with apes and birds (and dogs and more) and now it seems lizards can figure out problems, too.

A story on physorg (have you noticed this is my favorite web site?) reports new findings about the anole, a Puerto Rican lizard. They gave it a cognitive test that birds can pass -- and it did better than the birds. Very cool.

So can we start respecting animals now? How many times does this have to happen before we understand that the differences between us and other creatures are a matter of degree. All animals feel and think and deserve our respect.