Do Lizards Rule the World?

Recently, a new conspiracy craze has been going viral: lizard people secretly rule the world, and because reptiles benefit from warmth, they are deliberately heating the planet to create the ultimate terrarium. If that sounds crazy, 12 million Americans believe in this theory, so we must give it some thought.

At first glance, this sounds biologically correct. Reptiles are cold-blooded creatures that would thrive in a hotter world (preferably one that can reach average temperatures of 110 fahrenheit like a terrarium). A warmer planet would also mean less energy spent on body temperature regulation and more time spent on world domination. I mean, maybe when we see the dry, grey skin and cloudy eyes we see on all of our 80-year-old leaders it may just be their season of shedding. Also, we have never seen Kash Patel blink.

Unfortunately for the theory, while reptiles are cold-blooded, they rely on stable environmental temperatures—and climate change creates instability, not comfort. While terrariums for lizards do run hot, they drop to temperatures as low as -10 degrees Fahrenheit, so a completely burning world would not work out for even reptiles. Then again, mosquitoes actually do thrive in warm temperatures, so maybe our leaders are just big bugs.

Photo of Kash Patel IMB