I remember first seeing these lizards about fifteen years ago crawling on the rock walls while I was taking a walking through Mt. Lookout. Living in Northern Kentucky, I'd never seen the little critters before. Today, they seem to be everywhere.
In the Cincinnati area they are generally referred to as Lazarus lizards. Apparently they are not native to the area. According to Buckeye Yard & Garden Online:
"In 1951, 10-year-old George Rau Jr., step-son of Fred Lazarus III, came across some common wall lizards scurrying across rocky slopes while on a family vacation to Lake Garda in northern Italy. George smuggled a few (6 to 10 depending on the reference source) through Customs to release them at his family's home on Torrence Court located in the eastern Cincinnati suburb of Hyde Park.
Some of the European expats thrived to eventually become so numerous that Torrence Court became known as Lizard Hill. Local residents called them "Lazarus lizards" in misplaced recognition of the lizard's perceived patrons. Of course, they should have been named "George's Lizards" in honor of their true sponsor.
The lizard story may ring like local folklore; however, George Rau wrote a letter in 1989 to herpetologists at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History detailing his role as the lizard leader. He also repeated his story in several interviews with the news media.
Research conducted by Cassandra Homan for her 2013 University of Cincinnati M.S. Thesis (see "More Information" below) added credibility to Rau's claim. She compared genetic samples collected from the Cincinnati lizards to samples taken from the reported source population in Europe and confirmed a substantial loss of genetic diversity indicating a genetic bottleneck. Her computer simulations suggested the bottleneck was likely associated with only three individuals surviving their release to become the founders of the Cincinnati populations."
Buckeye Yard & Garden Online: The Rise of Lazarus Lizards
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