Author: alexiss

Anolis sagrei nelsoni from Little Swan Island. Photo by Alexis Harrison

Where the Swans meet.

My first two posts [1,2] reported on how we got to the Swan Islands and what we found on Great Swan, especially the anoles. But after five days on the island, we had given up hope of crossing the strait to Little Swan Island. The navy on the island had no boat. The channel between the islands, while narrow, was deep and carried a substantial current. From the air, it appeared that there were no sandy beaches on which to land, only jagged rocks beyond the jagged reef.

That afternoon, we were surprised to hear the sound of a motor. From the top of the dilapidated radio tower, someone spotted a small boat headed for the island. It turned out to be a lobster boat, headed back to the mainland of Honduras after several weeks collecting lobsters offshore. They were stopping at Swan Island to replenish their supply of plantains and rainwater. With a little haggling, we were able to persuade the captain to ferry us over to Little Swan the next day and pick us up again several hours later!

Heading to the lobster boat

We arranged to leave the next morning at 6 a.m. The morning came and we packed our gear and went to wait at the dock. Two men headed from the boat to the shore in rickety-looking fiberglass canoes and we piled in: three in one canoe and two in the other. Randy and I were sitting in the canoe with three and I was a little nervous. The lip of the canoe seemed awfully close to the water line and the surf was high enough to bounce us around. But the sailor paddling us back seemed unconcerned, so away we went.

We made it about halfway to the boat before a wave came up to the lip of the canoe and poured in. Within moments the canoe had disappeared beneath us and we were bobbing in the water a couple hundred feet from shore. My first thought was that my camera was going to get wet – the second thought was that it is hard to tread water in hiking boots. I tried to hold my backpack over the water while we waited for the second canoe to come over. I was able to toss my bag into the canoe, then we held on to the side of the canoe and were towed back to the shore. The other canoe and Randy’s rake stayed on the bottom of the ocean.

Our next attempt to reach the boat was successful. This time, we used three canoes. The captain of the boat was also able to find three life jackets to send along, just in case.

Expedition To Swan Island II: The Anoles!

By alexiss

On February 16, 2013

In Natural History Observations

Anolis sagrei nelsoni from Great Swan Island. Photo by Alexis Harrison.

In a previous post, I detailed the trip to Swan Island and our initial impressions. But now for the important stuff. The most abundant animals on the island were the anoles. They could be found on the beach, in the forest, on the buildings, on the hammock where we napped in the hottest part of the afternoon. This abundance was not immediately apparent, as the anoles seemed rather shy and tended to hide when I approached. Yet, if I sat still for a few minutes, anoles would start descending from the treetops and soon there seemed to be an anole on every branch.

Dewlap of A. sagrei nelsoni from Great Swan Island. Photo by Alexis Harrison.

My immediate impression was that these anoles did not “feel” like typical A. sagrei. They were light in coloration when calm, more like A. cristatellus than A. sagrei. Their eyes were marked like A. sagrei, but they were larger and darker. Females seemed similar in size to A. sagrei that I have seen elsewhere, but the males were (much) larger. This pronounced sexual dimorphism is consistent with the pattern in the anoles of the Lesser Antilles, where sexual dimorphism is exaggerated on single-species islands. Finally, the dewlap of the anoles on swan island were much darker than what I think of as typical A. sagrei dewlaps, and did not have the typical two distinctive colors, red and yellow, but graded from a lighter margin to a darker center gradually.

The anoles on Swan Island were also different from “typical” A. sagrei in their behavior. My general impression was that they were more shy of people. When threatened, they nearly always ran up into the canopy, rather than towards the ground or around their perch. Males displayed their dewlaps relatively infrequently. Finally, I observed them using a broad range of perches. Males especially used broad horizontal perches in the canopy of trees in addition to lower vertical perches.

Next Up: Big Surprises on Little Swan!

Expedition To Swan Island I: Overview

By alexiss

On February 15, 2013

In Notes from the Field

The brown booby, one of the denizens of Great Swan Island.

The Swan Islands, three tiny outcroppings of petrified reef jutting out of the otherwise open stretch of water between Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Honduras, hold one of the least-known populations of Anolis in the Caribbean. A visit by George Nelson in 1912 established that anoles are present on both the larger Great Swan Island (larger is a relative term – the entire island is about 5.5 square kilometers) and Little Swan (which is about half that size). The specimens collected by Nelson were later examined by Barbour at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard and found to be closely related to A. sagrei – they were designated as a species, A. nelsoni, notable mainly for its exceptionally large size. They were later relegated to a subspecies of A. sagrei by Ruibal.

Aside from a visit by Brad Lister in the early 70s, the anoles of the Swan Islands have been left in relative peace by anolologists. That is, until last December, when I joined a team including Jonathan Losos, Randy McCranie and Leo Valdes Orellana that set out to visit the Swan Islands to learn more about this mysterious member of the anole clan.

Getting to the Swan Islands turns out to me much easier said than done. The island has been uninhabited for decades, except for a handful of rotating members of the Honduran Navy who are stationed there to keep drug smugglers from using the island as a way station. The only way to contact the island is by radio, with the cooperation of the Honduran Navy. The only way to reach the island is by chartering a private plane or boat. And getting permission to fly there required a week of wrangling with the authorities in La Ceiba, Honduras. With the help of local contacts in the police and the intervention of a lawyer, we were ultimately able to get the necessary permission, first from the head of the armed forces for all of Honduras, and then by the heads of the Air Force and the Navy, respectively. Once we had permission, we managed to charter a small plane to the island, stocked up on rice, beans, water and batteries (the islands have no electricity or running water), and were ready to go (minus Jonathan, who couldn’t last out the wait for permits and had to return to the U.S. to grade final papers).

Big Swan Island

Swan Island from the air. Photo by Alexis Harrison.

Our first view of the island from the air revealed rugged cliffs and open beaches, dense forest, and decaying buildings overgrown by vegetation. We landed on the grassy runway that dominates at least a quarter of the area of the larger island and were greeted by seven armed members of the Honduran Navy and one friendly dog. Despite the guns, the Navy was very welcoming and helpfully carried many of our supplies to the main camp, where they had barracks and a kitchen, and where we could work at an indoor picnic table and could pitch our tents. After some minimal unpacking and setting up, we set off to get a feel for the island.

Luxury accommodations, Swan Island style.

The forests in the center of the island are dark and dense.

Carl Hiaasen, Anolologist?

By alexiss

On April 5, 2012

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

For those of you who enjoy reading literature of the non-Anolis variety in your limited spare time, allow me to recommend the work of author and journalist Carl Hiaasen for a shot of anole-spiked satire. Hiaasen’s extensive fiction and non-fiction works (which are reminiscent of Edward Abbey and Christopher Moore, to name a few) have captured the elusive charm and absurdity of the people and wildlife of Florida, and should be required reading for anyone who has been or is thinking of traveling there.

Although none of Hiaasen’s novels have focused on anoles, they make frequent cameo appearances in his work. For example, in his most recent young adult novel “Chomp,” one of the precocious main characters, Tuna, “captured a brilliant green anole lizard and helped Wahoo memorize its scientific name, Anolis carolinensis, which was a mouthful.” In another book, “Nature Girl,” a frustrated private investigator follows a sleazy telemarketer and his girlfriend into the everglades, where they have been lured by the phony promise of a luxurious ecotour. The PI is intent on capturing evidence of the telemarketer’s infidelity, but instead captures extensive footage of A. carolinensis engaged in “adult” behaviors.

Apparently, Hiaasen’s interest in anoles extends beyond their supporting role in his fiction. At a recent Q&A session with publishers at Random House, Hiaasen drew gasps from the audience when he described noosing A. equestris in Coral Gables and prying their mouths off his bloodied fingers using a quarter, and later being knocked off a ladder when the same species leapt off an outdoor light fixture and onto his face, again drawing blood. Hiaasen also described a childhood and adolescence (still in progress, according to the 59-year-old author) spent chasing lizards and other herps with his friends, his children, and later his grandchildren. Clearly Hiaasen deserves the honorary title of “anolologist.”

Perhaps anoles will figure more prominently in his next book? Personally, I’ll be crossing my fingers until then.

Do Anoles Produce Ultrasonic Hissing Noises?

By alexiss

On March 7, 2012

In Anole Annals Trivia

It has recently come to my attention that several websites (e.g. wikipedia) report that male anoles produce ultrasonic hisses while fighting. I’ve been trying to track down the source of this information, but I can’t find any reference to ultrasonic sound production in anoles in the scientific literature. Does anyone know the source of this information? Can anyone confirm that anoles are capable of producing ultrasonic sounds? I’d be grateful to anyone who can shed any light on this rumor.