Observations of these lizards in the wild have also revealed that their mating habits are quite unusual.
对野外的这些蜥蜴的观察也表明，他们的交配习惯也非常特殊。
Unlike most animals, it seems that they're relatively monogamous, returning to the same partner year after year.
不像大多数动物一样，它们看起来更像是一夫一妻制，每年都会回到相同的伴侣那里。
And the male and female also stay together for a long time, both before and after the birth of their young.
而且雌性和雄性也会一起呆很长一段时间，在它们的孩子出生前后。
It's quite interesting to think about the possible reasons for this.
想想可能的原因非常有趣。
It could be that it's to do with protecting their young
可能是为了保护它们的孩子
you'd expect them to have a much better chance of survival if they have both parents around.
如果父母都在身边的话，它们的生存率会更高。
But in fact observers have noted that once the babies have hatched out of their eggs,
但是实际上，观察者发现一旦它们的孩子破壳而出，
they have hardly any contact with their parents.
它们和父母几乎很少进行接触。
So, there's not really any evidence to support the idea.
所以，没有什么证据能够支撑这个想法。
Another suggestion's based on the observation that male lizards in monogamous relationships tend to be bigger and stronger than other males.
另一个想法是基于一夫一妻制的雄性蜥蜴比其他的雄性更大、更强壮的观察。
So maybe the male lizards stay around so they can give the female lizards protection from other males.
所以可能雄性蜥蜴待在左右，才能保护雌性蜥蜴远离其他的雄性。
But again, we're not really sure.
但是同样的，我们也不是很确定。
Finally, I'd like to mention another study that involved collecting data by tracking the lizards.
最后，我想说一下另外一个研究，这个研究通过追踪蜥蜴收集了很多数据。
I was actually involved in this myself.
我自己也参与了这项研究。
So we caught some lizards in the wild and we developed a tiny GPS system that would allow us to track them,
我们从野外抓了一些蜥蜴，而且开发了一种微型GPS系统能让我们追踪它们，
and we fixed this onto their tails.
然后把它放到了蜥蜴的尾巴上。
Then we set the lizards free again, and we were able to track them for twelve days and gather data, not just about their location.
然后我们放生了这些蜥蜴，追踪了它们长达十二天，收集到一些数据，不仅仅是它们的位置。
But even about how many steps they took during this period.
甚至包括在这个期间它们走了多少步路。
One surprising thing we discovered from this is that there were far fewer meetings between lizards than we expected.
我们从中发现的一件非常令人惊喜的事情就是，蜥蜴之间的碰面比我们预想的要少很多。
It seems that they were actually trying to avoid one another. So why would that be?
看起来他们尽量避免和其他蜥蜴接触。为什么呢？
Well, again we have no clear evidence, but one hypothesis is that male lizards can cause quite serious injuries to one another.
我们也没有明确的证据，但是一个假设是雄性蜥蜴会给对方造成严重伤害。
So maybe this avoidance is a way of preventing this — of self-preservation, if you like.
所以这种避免接触可能是一种避免伤害的方式，或者是自保的方式。
But we need to collect a lot more data before we can be sure of any of this.
但是在我们确定之前，我们需要收集更多的数据。