Stan Rand’s Super 8 Film from the 1972 Malpelo Expedition
Kevin de Queiroz
Research Zoologist and Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
This film was made by Austin Stanley Rand (1932–2005), a biologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) (1964–1997), during a six-day expedition to Malpelo Island, a small (1.2 km2), remote, oceanic island located some 500 km west of the Colombian mainland, in late February and early March of 1972. The Expedition involved 17 scientists from STRI, the republics of Colombia and Panamá, and several US universities, as well as the assistance of the United States Navy. The scientific findings of the Expedition were published in the series Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology (Number 176) in 1975, in a volume edited by Jeffrey B. Graham (1941–2011), one of the STRI biologists who participated in the Expedition. The volume contains 14 articles, five of which are on the lizards of Malpelo, including three on the endemic Anolis agassizi, two on the endemic Diploglossus millepunctatus (one of which is also on A. agassizi), and one describing a new endemic species of leaf-toed geckos, Phyllodactylus transversalis. As a result of prompting from George Gorman, who participated in the Expedition, and Jonathan Losos, I obtained a digital copy of the film from the Smithsonian Archives with the help of Archivist Ellen Alers. The film is a little under 11 minutes long and there is no audio. The notes about the contents of the film below were prepared mostly from information in the Malpelo Expedition Volume, with some additions based on web searches and input from George Gorman. Literature citations are for articles in the Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology Malpelo Expedition Volume unless otherwise indicated. Thanks to George Gorman and Ross Kiester for comments on an earlier version.
0:10: Adult male Anolis agassizi, Malpelo or Agassiz’s Anole. The species was named by Smithsonian Zoologist Leonard Stejneger in 1900 after Alexander Agassiz, leader of an 1891 Expedition aboard the USS Albatross that visited Malpelo and collected the first specimens.
0:20: Map showing the location of Malpelo Island (ca. 500 km west of mainland Colombia).
0:29: The USS York County (US Navy). This De Soto County-class Tank Landing Ship transported the Expedition participants from Panama to Malpelo and back.
0:32: Ship deck (the ship was decommissioned later that same year, 1972).
0:40: Crew members of the USS York (sweeping the deck).
0:46: A. Ross Kiester (Ph.D. 1975, Harvard University, Advisor: Ernest E. Williams; STRI Predoctoral Fellow, 1970–1971). Kiester authored a paper in the Malpelo Expedition Volume on the natural history of the endemic anguid lizard species Diploglossus millepunctatus.
0:53: George C. Gorman (Ph.D. 1968, Harvard University, Advisor: E. E. Williams; UCLA professor at the time of the Expedition) lying on deck. Gorman co-authored three articles in the Malpelo Expedition Volume, including one on the natural history, behavior and ecology of Anolis agassizi and another on the chromosomes of Anolis agassizi and Diploglossus millepunctatus.
1:00: Several Anolis agassizi licking a cut orange. The anoles are very abundant on the island. In the Malpelo Expedition Volume, Rand et al. (1975) estimated the population density to be 1 anole/5-10 square meters and a total population of at least 100,000 anoles on the small island.
1:11: Malpelo Island from the southeast (?).
1:20: Part of island closer up. The sides are very steep and landing is difficult.
1:27: Close-up of rock (island surface). The island is composed primarily of igneous rock and is of volcanic origin. Very few large (vascular) plants occur there, though several species of mosses and lichens are present.
1:33: Aerial view of island (from the northwest). The Expedition produced a new map of the island (see Kiester and Hoffman, 1975).
1:39: Map showing the topography of the ocean floor. Malpelo is part of Malpelo Ridge and is the only island on that ridge.
1:45: Nazca Booby (Sula granti). This is most abundant breeding bird species on Malpelo (Pitman et al., 1995, The marine birds of Malpelo Island, Colombia. Colonial Waterbirds 18:113–119, wherein it is called Sula dactylatra). The population was estimated by Pitman et al. (1995) to be 24,000 individuals. Referred to in the Malpelo Expedition Volume as Masked or Blue-faced Boobies, Sula dactylatra granti.
1:50: Seabirds flying. Other bird species known from Malpelo include Red-billed Tropicbirds, Red-footed Boobies, Black and Brown Noddies, White Terns, and Great and Magnificent Frigatebirds (Pitman et al., 1995).
2:00: Diploglossus millepunctatus, a Dotted or Malpelo Galliwasp. This is an anguid lizard species endemic to Malpelo.
2:02: Preserved specimens of Phyllodactylus transversalis, Malpelo Leaf-toed Geckos. This was a new species discovered on the Malpelo Expedition and described in the Malpelo Expedition Volume by Raymond B. Huey (Ph.D. 1976; Harvard University, Advisor: Ernest E. Williams).
2:06: This shot seems to show the abundance of anoles in a small area. Anolis agassizi was found not to be territorial, unlike most of its close relatives, and to exhibit relatively little intraspecific aggression.
2:21: Anole on a camera illustrating tameness and/or curiosity. Rand et al. reported that they often approached observers and unusual objects.
2:24: Clipboard with a map of Malpelo showing the routes taken by the exploration party (compare with Figure 4 in Kiester and Hoffman, 1975).
2:26: Anoles in a scuffle (chase and display).
2:32: Anoles on equipment (again showing abundance and curiosity).
2:37: Anoles at orange, licking, numerous individuals. Oranges were put out after the researchers noticed that the anoles seemed attracted to the color orange (Kodak film package, cap of suntan lotion container). The anoles normally eat insects, primarily ants and beetles (Rand et al., 1975).
3:03: Anoles running around with a (red) Chuckles candy. This was part of the “Chuckles experiment” to assess whether the anoles preferred particular colors (more on this below).
3:21: Large marked male anole performing a headbob display. Marking was used to estimate home ranges.
3:30: More headbobs (different individual?). This is a typical anole display. The Malpelo anoles performed it infrequently compared to other anole species.
3:37: Large marked male A. agassizi performing more head bobs and dewlap extension. Malpelo anoles have relatively small dewlaps.
3:50: Attacks another male.
3:53: Nuchal crest and dewlap extended. This species has a relatively small dewlap, likely related to its lack of territoriality and reduced aggression.
4:04: Two males displaying and biting. The closer one appears to be tethered.
4:15: Males with jaws locked. Despite these cases, at least some of which appear to involve instigation by the researchers, aggression was found to be low in this species (Rand et al., 1975).
4:21: Male anole. Rosario Castañeda (2010, Ph. D. dissertation, George Washington University) found A. agassizi to be ecomorphologically divergent from other Dactyloa-clade species in having an exceptionally large number of toepad lamellae.
4:31: Anoles (some of which are marked) at orange. Note that the anoles do not attempt to monopolize this resource by displaying at each other or chasing each other away (Rand et al., 1975). The larger ones with the black heads are males.
4:47: Series of preserved Anolis agassizi specimens. No hatchlings were found during the Expedition, suggesting seasonal reproduction (Rand et al., 1975).
4:57: Dissected Anolis specimen showing testes. Probably one of the large males with a black head and nuchal crest.
5:02: Dissected Anolis specimen showing an egg. A little over 50% of the sampled females had oviducal eggs or enlarging follicles (Rand et al., 1975).
5:06: Testes again. Rand et al. (1975) found that some large males lack male secondary sexual characters (black head and erect nuchal crest) and have regressed testes (obviously, this isn’t one of them).
5:11: Back at the orange. The anoles both lick and bite the orange.
5:28: Dissected gut cavity. Possibly showing fat bodies or perhaps this is the male morph with regressed testes or perhaps showing the darkly pigmented peritoneum, a characteristic of lizards that live in areas of high insolation (Rand et al., 1975).
5:35: Back at the orange again.
5:51: Part of island with ocean in background (and birds). The shot pans to a small boat that was presumably used to transport the researchers to the island from the large ship.
6:02: Endemic Malpelo land crab, Johngarthia malpilensis. (Referred to in the Malpelo Expedition Volume as Gecarcinus malpilensis.)
6:08: Crab interaction with Diploglossus. D. millepunctutus is one of the largest anguids and one of the largest Diploglossus species. It is known to feed on dead crabs (Kiester, 1975).
6:24: Anolis agassizi male (marked).
6:30: A researcher tying a hookless fishing fly on fishing line. Ross Kiester thinks that the researcher may be William M. Rand, brother of A. Stanley Rand and co-author of the article on Anolis agassizi in the Malpelo Expedition Volume (Rand et al., 1975).
6:33: Anoles trying to capture the fly. Malpelo anoles are known to eat real flies (Diptera).
6:45: Anoles with green chuckles candy. The “Chuckles Experiment” was undertaken to test for a color preference (Rand et al., 1975). The results indicated a preference for orange and yellow Chuckles candies over red and green ones and even more so over black ones. Rand et al. speculated that this preference could be related to feeding on the yolks of broken seabird eggs.
6:52: Setting out red Chuckles candy.
6:54: Anoles on rock (more Chuckles).
6:59: Anole with red and orange Chuckles candies.
7:15: This sequence shows anoles drinking from a crevice, as reported in the Malpelo Expedition Volume by Rand et al. (1975). There are many small seeps, springs and rock pools on the island (Rand et al., 1975). Other experiments have shown that Malpelo anoles are not particularly tolerant of water loss (Rand et al., 1975).
7:43: More drinking.
7:57: Taking body temperature via the cloaca (a standard herpetological method). Rand et al. (1975) found that A. agassizi exhibits similar body-temperature preferences to other anoles.
8:05: Part of island (from boat?).
8:10: Anole runs and stops in the shade. Anoles were active during most of the day in the shade and didn’t spend much time basking (Rand et al., 1975).
8:24: Back at the half orange.
8:38: Anoles flee and a Diploglossus approaches. The Galliwasp is known to prey on anoles, but anoles are not its primary food source (Rand et al., 1975). On the other hand, Rand et al. reported that 85% of the Malpelo Anoles had regenerated tails.
8:49: Anoles.
8:52: Diploglossus departs. This is probably the individual mentioned by Rand et al. (1975) that repeatedly approached the orange when anoles were present, but did not eat the orange.
8:57: Large male anole moving up rock.
9:05: Diploglossus millepunctatus.
9:09: Anole running.
9:12: Diploglossus running. I assume that the anole is running from the galliwasp rather than the other way around.
9:17: Land crab (Johngarthia malpilensis).
9:20: Land crab and Diploglossus. Malpelo Galliwasps are known to feed on dead crabs (Kiester, 1975).
9:26: Nazca Boobies (Sula granti), adult and chick.
9:28: Diploglossus millepunctatus. Kiester (1975) reported that when a booby chick squawks upon return of the parent to the nest, nearby galliwasps immediately run to the vicinity of the birds and will snatch and eat any fishes that are dropped.
9:33: Nazca Boobies (adult and chick) again.
9:36: Diploglossus eating a crab claw.
9:40: Two Diploglossus eating a dead crab.
9:46: Anoles back at the half orange (zoom out).
10:20: Close up of anoles at orange again.
10:40: Different shot of anoles at orange (some dart in and out).
10:54: End
- New Article on Anolis roosevelti and the Question of Its Survival - March 16, 2024
- Lizard Diving Champions: Trading Heat For Safety Underwater - March 15, 2024
- Do Large Brown Anoles Get the Most Mating Opportunities? - January 6, 2024
Michael Salutin
Fantastic account!