Title: Thinking outside the box: Problem solving in free-living lizards Authors: Levi Storks (storksle@gmail.com) and Manuel Leal (lealm@missouri.edu) Affiliation: University of Missouri Abstract: Despite evidence that organisms are more likely to exhibit their full range of cognitive abilities under conditions found in nature, studies evaluating cognition under such conditions remain rare, particularly in vertebrate species. Here we conducted an experiment to evaluate problem solving and motor-self regulation in free-living arboreal lizards, Anolis sagrei, under natural conditions. We presented lizards with a novel detour problem which challenged individuals to circumvent a transparent barrier in order to obtain a food reward. Individuals varied in their ability to solve the detour problem. Furthermore, those that solved the problem were able to improve their performance across trials by modifying the natural response of attempting to strike the reward trough the transparent barrier, providing evidence of motor self-regulation. Solving the problem required individuals to modify their typical foraging behavior, as approaching the prey in a single burst of movement that culminated with an attack was an unsuccessful strategy. Contrary to expectations our findings provide evidence of motor self-regulation in a visually-oriented, sit-and-wait predator under natural conditions, suggesting motor-self-regulation is not limited by foraging strategy. Our results also underscore the need to evaluate the cognitive abilities of free-living organisms in the wild, particularly for taxa that perform poorly under laboratory conditions. Keywords: behavioural flexibility, motor self-regulation; problem solving; natural conditions; reptile; Anolis Explanation of Variables: Dataset: Storks2020_TrialDataComplete_Dryad.csv Date: Date on which trial occurred Time: Time at which trial occurred LizardID: Identifier of lizard completing trial. Corresponds to tags on each lizard. LRPattern: Orientation of patterns for trial with respect to the observer. (Left pattern)/(Right pattern) Phase: Phase of experiment for trial. Habituation = 1, Detour = 2 Trial: Numbered trials within each phase for each individual, starting at 1. AccessPatt: Pattern through which individual accessed reward. C = Checked, S = Striped AccessSide: Side through which lizard accessed the reward with respect to observer. L = Left, R = Right Touches: Number of times individual continuously touched surface of apparatus during trial. Success: Whether the individual accessed the reward or did not. 1 = success, 0 = fail Dataset: Storks2020_SubjectData_Dryad.csv LizardID: Identifier of lizard completing trial. Corresponds to tags on each lizard. Sex: Sex of individual. M = Male, F = Female Weight: Weight of lizard in grams to nearest 0.1g. SVL: Snout to vent length of lizards to nearest 0.1 cm.