It's not often that an interview subject sticks her tongue out at you, barks, and then changes color. Then again, it's not often that your interview subject is a leopard gecko.

On tour with members of the Animal Programs staff from the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, the leopard gecko and her buddy, an Argentine tegu, made a visit to The Rock Island Argus office to teach us a bit about lizards.

In the Midwest, you won't find lizards in the wild (except an occasional former pet), so when the Shedd opened its "Lizards and the Komodo King" exhibit in April 2006, it was no surprise that people were full of questions about the little -- and not so little -- creatures it highlighted.

The interest guests showed in the lizards Shedd already had was what prompted the popular Chicago landmark to create this exhibit in the first place. "Our audience was interested in learning more," said Melissa Kruth, public-relations coordinator for the aquarium.

Including lizards in the Shedd's collection and those on loan from other facilities, "Lizards and the Komodo King" boasts 25 different species in all, but if you're picturing one small green lizard after another, think again.

Holding court over the entire exhibit is Faust, a Komodo dragon. Komodos aren't actually dragons at all, but they are the world's largest lizard species.

Faust has gained 15 pounds since he came to Chicago from the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, and that weight's not because Chicago has better food. Measuring eight feet long and weighing in at 150 pounds, Faust is still growing.

Komodos can live to be 50 years old, and since they can take down water buffaloes with their razor-sharp teeth and toxic saliva, they don't have much to worry about in the way of predators.

Faust's opposite, the exhibit's smallest critter, is the day gecko, which is only three or four inches in length. Faust and the day geckos bookend a selection of lizards with an impressive variety of characteristics.

Our friend the leopard gecko has impeccable night vision and can lick her eyeballs, "a built-in windshield wiper," as Ms. Kruth called it. Her traveling companion, the Argentine tegu, uses his forked tongue to smell the location of prey.

The exhibit's panther chameleon, which all the Shedd representatives agreed is "just gorgeous," sports a full rainbow of colors "and gets even brighter when turned on or angry," said Paul Crumrine.

Some lizards can move their eyeballs in two directions at once. Others are legless, so they look like snakes but aren't. Many of the lizards have what the Shedd folks referred to as "crazy defense mechanisms," including the ability to escape predators by detaching their tails -- which remain behind, still moving, while the lizard runs away.

There's no denying it -- these lizards are downright cool. With hands-on activities and interactive displays tailored to each species, the exhibit appeals to both kids and adults, so it's little surprise that "Lizards and the Komodo King" has been a favorite with visitors to the aquariu.

While the exhibit had been scheduled to end this past February, "it's been so popular, we decided to extend it to spring 2008," said Ms. Kruth.

That's a decision that will keep Chicago's natives and visitors leaping well into next season.

The John G. Shedd Aquarium is located at 1200 S. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. Admission to the aquarium is $24.95 for adults, $17.95 for seniors and children. For information about tickets for groups, call (312) 692-3333. Advance tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster at (312) 559-0200 or www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, call (312) 939-2438 or visit www.sheddaquarium.org.