Author Archives: Rich Glor

Another New Book for Comparative Biologists

The University of Chicago Press has recently published another outstanding new book for comparative biologists.  Charles Nunn‘s The Comparative Approach in Evolutionary Anthropology and Biology provides insightful reviews of methods for ancestral character reconstruction, phylogenetic tests for character correlation, phylogenetic diversification … Continue reading

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New Edition of Paradis’s Book on Phylogenetics in R

Springer recently published a new and dramatically expanded version of Pardis’s book Analysis of Phylogenetics and Evolution with R.  This book is a great way to teach yourself some of the amazing techniques available for phylogeneticists and comparative biologists via … Continue reading

Posted in New Research | 3 Comments

Caught in the Act: Anole Sex and Post-coital Behavior

Anole Annals has certainly had its share of posts about anole sex (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4).  Today I’m posting another photo of anoles having sex along with a rare shot of the immediate aftermath.  As you can see in the … Continue reading

Posted in Notes from the Field | 3 Comments

Which Anole Species are in Albert Schwartz’s Top Five?

Albert Schwartz was a prolific describer of new anole species and author of peerless contributions to our understanding of geographic variation within and among widespread anole species (see 1 and 2).  In addition to his published contributions, Schwartz and his colleagues … Continue reading

Posted in Anole Annals Trivia | 13 Comments

Name That (Enormous) Dewlap

The species pictured above has one of the largest dewlaps of any anole, with a ceratobranchial that extends posteriorly well beyond the forelimbs.  What species is it?

Posted in Anole Annals Trivia | 13 Comments

The Loss of a Critical Tool in Anole Biology

Today marks a sad day in the history of anole biology: the anole hunter’s best friend has just gone out of production.  Before explaining what I mean, I need to provide some additional details for the uninitiated.  Most anoles are caught … Continue reading

Posted in Research Methods | 8 Comments

Tales of Notorious Reptile Smugglers

Stolen World: A Tale of Reptiles, Smugglers, and Skulduggery by Jennie Erin Smith is a page-turning historical account of the most notorious reptile smugglers in the United States.  Many of the stories in Stolen World are derived from first-hand accounts … Continue reading

Posted in Anole Art, Literature, and Humor, Notes from the Field, Research Methods | 4 Comments

Anole Book Wins Medal from National Academy

Congratulations to Anole Annal’s blogger Jonathan Losos on receiving the National Academy of Science’s Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal, which is awarded every four years for “meritorious work in zoology or paleontology published in a three- to five-year period.”  The NAS recognized Losos for his … Continue reading

Posted in Anoles and Anolologists in the News | 6 Comments

Anole Classics: Albert Schwartz (1968) on Geographic Variation in Anolis distichus

I previously characterized Albert Schwartz as one of the five kings of Greater Antillean anole taxonomy for having described eight new species from the region.  Although Schwartz described the fewest species among the five kings, focusing on new species masks … Continue reading

Posted in Classics from the Literature | 8 Comments

Does Anolis Have a Google Problem?

Pop quiz: What do Anolis and Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum have in common?  Answer: A Google problem. Rick Santorum’s google problem is that the first hits you obtain when you google “Santorum” are related to the author Dan Savage’s … Continue reading

Posted in Anole Art, Literature, and Humor | 3 Comments

Kings of Greater Antillean Anole Taxonomy V: Orlando Garrido

The last of the five kings described more new anoles than any of the others: Orlando Garrido.  Garrido is unique among the five in two ways.  First, he’s still alive, still active, and still making contributions to our understanding of … Continue reading

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Best Header Contest: Final Vote!

Congratulations to Neil Losin for winning the second round of our header photo contest with his image of A. sagrei from South Miami.  In an effort to be inclusive, I’ve included the top six photographers from each of the first … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments

The Kings of West Indian Anole Taxonomy IV: Albert Schwartz

I’ve credited the fourth king of Greater Antillean anole taxonomy – Albert Schwartz – with describing eight Greater Antillean anole species.  The period during which Schwartz’s career overlapped with Williams’s and that of the fifth yet-t0-be-revealed king were the glory … Continue reading

Posted in Classics from the Literature | 6 Comments

Chameleons Eating Anoles on YouTube (Not for the Faint of Heart)

We’re certainly not shy about posting on our favorite lizards being eaten by other organisms (see this post and links therein).  Heck, we’ve even posted on anoles being eaten by plants and insects.  However, I can’t help but be a … Continue reading

Posted in Natural History Observations | 2 Comments

Anole Annals Teams with iNaturalist

iNaturalist.org is an on-line community for naturalists where you can “record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world.”  We’ve teamed with iNaturalist to provide a new anole-specific widget that allows our readers to see previously reported anole … Continue reading

Posted in Education and Anoles | Leave a comment

Anole Annals Header Photo Contest: Round 2

This is the second round of voting for the best Anole Annals header photo.  As reported previously, the winner will receive a signed copy of Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree.  On the strength of dozens of votes from visitors arriving … Continue reading

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Anole Annals Header Photo Contest: Let the Voting Begin!

Our Anole Annals header photo contest has elicited some rather spectacular entries.  Narrowing the field to a manageable number of entries for voting was no easy feat and was achieved largely be excluding entries that were improperly sized.  There were … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Kings of Greater Antillean Anole Taxonomy III: Ernest Williams

Following Barbour’s work, nearly a quarter century would pass before another Harvard man picked up the mantle of describing new anoles.  Among his many other contributions, Ernest Williams named 12 species of anoles from Jamaica, Cuba, and Hispaniola between 1959 and 1975. … Continue reading

Posted in Classics from the Literature | 6 Comments

Yellow Anole Eggs

Anyone who’s raised anoles has likely run across the occasional slug.  I’m not talking about shell-less gastropod mollusks, but rather about the flaccid yellow eggs that anoles lay from time to time.  Slugs are uncalcified and generally considered infertile.  Because slugs … Continue reading

Posted in Notes from the Field, Research Methods | 1 Comment

New Host, New Look

If you’re here, you’ve caught on to the fact that we’ve moved to our new home at anoleannals.org.  We’re having a header photo contest to celebrate this move, but before introducing the contest I need to cover some important information … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments