Anolis sagrei

Anolis sagrei

From time to time, people find anoles with broken dewlaps. Here’s an extreme example, found by Bob Powell and Rich Sajdak on the island of Grenada. Years ago, Richard Tokarz reported a lab study that showed that males with non-functional dewlaps mated as frequently as intact males, and a follow-up study with Ann Paterson and Steve McMann showed no difference in the field between males with and without working dewlaps. Makes you wonder what the dewlap is needed for.

Bob points out that brown anoles have spread widely in disturbed lowland habitats since first discovered on Grenada in 2002, when they were restricted to intensely disturbed urban habitats and decorative plantings in a few resorts.

Jonathan Losos