Novel Environments: The ‘Fancy Dress’ Party

Anole masks. Note: The dewlaps looked a lot pinker under natural light!

Organisms that colonize a new landmass are often faced with strange environments and selection pressures. Biologists are no exception. Having quasi-recently emigrated to England, I can tell you that, from a North American perspective, the UK can be pretty strange. One of the novelties, along with saying ‘Ta’ and not heating buildings, is the ‘fancy dress’ party. If you’re American or Canadian, then ‘fancy dress’ probably conjures images of black tie, tails and sherry (Downton Abbey anyone?). But no. ‘Fancy Dress’ is when otherwise regular people don ridiculous costumes and drink a lot (wait, that does sound like Downton Abbey). The reasons behind this custom (the dressing up, not the drinking) are unknown to me. Maybe it’s because there’s no Halloween and thus no annual outlet for looking like an idiot?

Anyway, the point is that this year, our departmental party’s theme was Noah’s Ark. Of course, this left us with only one option. If the world’s going to flood, then we’d better be sure there’s a pair of anoles on board. After all, think of the opportunity for radiation when the waters recede. All it took was a little duct tape, papier-mâché, paint, an artistic spouse and voila, Anolis masks! Of course, I can’t believe that I’m the only one who has ever attempted an anole costume – anyone else have any pics to share of their efforts?

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Adam Algar

Associate Professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. My research focuses on niche limits and dynamics across scales, from individual organisms to the globe. Mostly lizards.

Latest posts by Adam Algar (see all)

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