Here at AA, we seem to have an obsession, hopefully healthy, for a few things: knight anoles, anoles and water, and big dewlaps. And here’s a combination of two of them, a mainland aquatic anole displaying its enormous dewlap. Wowwee! It’s big and beautiful. What is it with mainland anoles and their big throat fans? This is a youtube video posted by MrKbosker, identified as A. aquaticus.
And not to be outdone, InBio, the Costa Rican biodiversity institute, brings us this mellifluous footage of A. polylepis strutting its stuff.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u9zFMlj7XU
Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.
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Ambika Kamath
That aquaticus display reminds me a lot of the Sitana display, with the partial dewlap extensions and “head bobs” that are more like changes in the position of the body. I’m starting to wonder if dewlap size and shape can constrain, biomechanically, the sorts of displays that become feasible.
mr Bosker
A. Aquaticus lives in deep shaded areas, has dull cryptic coloration and practices a sit- and-wait lifestyle which makes them nearly invisible. Which comes in handy because everybody else wants to eat them. If you want to make your presence known in these conditions, without leaving the relative safety of your spot, a large dewlap can do the trick.
Rich Glor
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Peter Mudde
Nice picture Klaas. Interesting to see this male is protruding it’s tongue. We have been over that feature a few months ago, here..
Peter Mudde
https://www.anoleannals.org/2014/06/30/another-anole-sticking-its-tongue-out-while-displaying/#comments
I’d say ( I would like to pose the hypothesis) that Anolis aquaticus does protrude it’s tonge during territorial display but not during courtship-display..
klaas Bosker
I agree. I’ve kept them (A. aquaticus) for a long while now and A. aquaticus is sticking out it’s tongue only at its mirror image. The one you see in the you-tube clip is pursuing a female.
He doesnt’use his tongue there..