It is said to be the world’s most popular food: We are talking pizza.

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Although I’m a fan, and know all about “four-cheese pizza,” I’ve never come across “pizza quattro stagioni” or “four-seasons pizza,” which is divided into four sections. Each section represents a season. Prosciutto and olives represent winter; artichokes spring; basil and tomatoes summer; and mushrooms represent autumn. Of course, there is always a base of tomato sauce and cheese.

Sounds yummy to me, but apparently not to the rainbow lizard, or agama agama, the most colourful lizard in the world.

We know this thanks to research carried out by a group of scientists in Togo, West Africa, where these lizards commonly scoot around, even in urban areas. The research — which I would hardly describe as “cutting-edge” — was prompted by an observation made by one of the scientists. A male lizard, recognized by its vibrant colours unlike the less colourful female, was seen climbing a tourist’s table to steal a piece of four-cheese pizza. This was surprising, since the lizards generally prefer to dine on insects.

What attracted them to the pizza, the scientist wondered. Was there something special about the four-cheese variety?

An experiment was devised whereby plates of four-cheese pizza and four-seasons pizza were placed on the........

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