The male Augrabies Flat Lizard disguise themselves as females to avoid confrontations with their stronger rivals, according to a report by the Australian National University.

Young males resemble females, but as they reach sexual maturity they develop dramatic coloration. Young lizards that are just starting to show these characteristics are subject to attacks by their older, more experienced rivals. The older lizards will often chase and bite the young males.

The research, conducted by South African and Australian scientists, also revealed some young males can delay the changes in their physique, while pretending to be females. Termed ‘she-males,’ they enjoy freedom of movement through the territories controlled by the aggressive mature males and may even court females who residence there.

She-male lizards mimic looks, but not the smell, the study showed. Researchers removed pheromones and skin lipids that could signal gender from she-males and re-labelled them before introducing them to the adult males. After touching them with their sensitive tongues, males tried to court she-males while treating ‘male’ varieties as competition.

“Males are fooled by looks, but not by scent” said one of the report’s authors, Dr. Jonathan Webb of the University of Sydney.

The scientists believe that since she-males cannot fake the female scent they try to stay out of the reach of the tongues of adult males in order to maintain their disguise.