The nursery trade is a known vector for many invasive species including anoles. Anoles have quite the affinity for laying eggs in the moist soil of potted plants, which may then be transported to various locations. Indeed, the nursery trade is the suspected vector for introductions to Hawaii and California of A. carolinensis and A. sagrei and likely accelerated their spread within those states. In fact, citizen scientists on iNaturalist document a reasonable number of brown anoles well outside their normal range. These observations have a distribution that suspiciously coincides with locations of Home Depots and Lowes. However, while the nursery trade is a suspected vector for other species of anoles, verified instances of long-distance transport via the trade are fewer and farther between.
An (as yet) unidentified anole hatchling transported from Puerto Rico to Virginia. From user kimjy3 on iNaturalist.org
One recent observation on iNaturalist documented a hatchling anole that popped out of a potted plant shipped from Puerto Rico as the user unwrapped it…in Alexandria, Virginia. Can anyone on Anole Annals having experience with Puerto Rican anoles and their hatchlings help ID this little one? The user reports that the anole does not have blue eyes; instead they are brown or black.
This image was taken as part of the integrated course developed by the XXIII promotion of the Masters in Conservation and Wildlife Management of the National University of Costa Rica.
Individuals of a species use habitats on different ways for refuge, feeding, reproduction, or perching. We studied the variation on perch use between sex and age classes of Anolis polylepis at the Piro Biological Station, Costa Rica. Our results point to a similar perch use pattern between sex, but different between age classes, considering only the lowest and
highest perches. Adult females and males use herbaceous and shrubby vegetation and avoid leaf litter. Juveniles use herbaceous vegetation and leaf litter, but avoid shrubby vegetation. We suggest that adult males use higher perches to defend territory.
Conversely, juveniles use lower perches to avoid predators and foraging. Adult females use middle and high perches. This result is in contrast with previous studies on this species.
Cortés-Suárez, J. E. and N. Díaz-Gutiérrez. 2013. Perch use by Anolis polylepis Peters, 1874 (Polychrotidae) in a tropical humid forest at the Piro Biological Station, Costa Rica. Herpetology Notes 6: 219–222.
While performing population research of Anolis(Norops) bicaorum at Kanahau Utila Research & Conservation Facility, we stumbled upon two males in close proximity initiating a territorial dispute. With the intention of documenting this behavior, we began to record the interaction.
In all honesty, the confrontation was a little shorter than any of us expected… It may well be one of my funniest fieldwork memories to date (despite watching it on repeat, I still can’t help but chuckle at this anole’s misfortune!) . To detail, upon the first exchange of dewlap extensions, the responding male slipped and fell clumsily from the trunk; meanwhile, his contender (who was in the process of displaying) looked on, apparently baffled at the sudden disappearance of his rival.
It appears the falling males mistake arose owing to a combination of two factors. The simple explanation is that this male lost his footing on the steep vertical trunk (which formed the battleground on this occasion), but indeed it’s rare to see an anole make such an error of judgement; the lamellae on their feet afford them excellent grip on many substrates. The second explanation owes to the fact males are completely intolerant of one another. We noted that when engaging in territorial disputes, males of A. bicaorum become entirely absorbed in their confrontation, possessed by their territorial natures and relentless in their efforts to dissuade and expel contenders from their patch. Often, competing individuals become so preoccupied that hey no longer perceive apparent dangers (e.g., the closely observing biologists). Perhaps the haphazard approach of males in territorial engagement leaves them prone to the occasional miscalculation.
Opposite views of a communal sleeping event (1 male, 2 females) of Anolis cusuco at Parque Nacional Cusuco, Departamento Cortes, Honduras (Brown & Arrivillaga, 2018)
Let’s be honest: anoles are fascinating! These charismatic and well-adapted lizards are always a pleasure to watch and document. Better yet, no matter how well you think you know a species, they’re still always full of surprises.
The sleeping behavior of anoline lizards is a fascinating aspect of their natural history, and a growing amount of literature has detailed species-specific sleeping activities. Typically, anoles are considered solitary sleepers owing to their territorial nature, but ‘behind closed doors,’ this may not always be the case!
For those curious, a recent ‘behavioral oddity’ published in Mesoamerican Herpetology by Brown & Arrivillaga (2018), reported an example of three individual Anolis (Norops) cusuco sleeping together on a perch! The individuals were so close that portions of their bodies overlapped! Strange, indeed; this observation contrasts the typical view of anole sleeping ecology, territoriality and indeed that what is known for this species (Clause & Brown, 2017). In over 5 years of visiting Cusuco NP (observing countless solitary sleeping A. cusuco), imagine the surprise in finding these anoles having a sneaky snuggle!!
As we wrote: “Although a conclusive explanation is not available, we suggest that because the sleeping group consisted of one male and two females, that the shared perch might have been breeding-related. This situation might be associated with the overlap of male and female territories, or by the anoles awakening close to necessary resources. Conceivably, however, courtship might have been interrupted by nightfall, and the orientation of the sleeping male ensured that courting would continue the following morning.”
It’s June. It’s orchid flowering season in Grand Cayman. And with nods to #Anole March Madness and #MammalMadness it’s the opening round of the 2018 ANOLE WORLD CUP. #ANOLEGOOAAAAALLLL!!!!
Home Team – Anolis conspersus – against – Away Team – Anolis sagrei
During one recent afternoon’s field work, I heard an unusual noise in the botanical garden I was working in: a sound like someone crunching and crinkling a foil potato chip bag. Tracing the sound from about 20 feet away, I did not find a snacking plant enthusiast, but rather a young Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in survey posture who had apparently just snagged a large dragonfly out of mid-air. The anole chowed down on its prey while keeping a weather eye on me and conducting a few half-hearted displays to let me know it was aware of my presence. As the anole continued to masticate its rather large afternoon meal, it moved to a higher perch away from the prying eyes of this anolologist.
The dragonfly, a Regal Darner (Coryphaeschna ingens), is a common species in the southeastern United States and an accomplished aerial predator. It was also more than a mouthful for this young knight, which had to chew with its mouth open for over four minutes (and still wasn’t finished when it escaped my view); quite the prey handling time! And yet more evidence that this largest of anole species is willing to take a chance on any prey item that might fit into its maw even if it takes a little work.
Somebody needs to work on their anole species identification skills.
Breeding season is heating up for anoles in Miami, and at least one male crested anole (A. cristatellus) is a little…confused. While collecting some baseline data for my post-doc work looking at impacts of artificial light at night (ALAN) on brown and crested anoles, I noticed a commotion on a nearby cycad. Upon closer inspection, I realized that a male crested anole was pursuing and subsequently mating with a female brown anole (A. sagrei) who was decidedly unhappy about the situation.
In case you’re wondering about the colorful jewelry at the base of their tails, both of the anoles in the photo/video are bead-tagged to allow me to reidentify them from a distance. The copulation here lasted 3-4 minutes a portion of which I managed to capture on video.
While previous reports on AA have documented coupling between A. carolinensis and A. sagrei, I haven’t seen any reports of interspecific mating between A. cristatellus and A. sagrei. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon? The two species do encounter each other quite frequently in the Miami area, so this might not be a rare occurrence. Hybridization seems unlikely given the divergence between these two species, but you never know!
My name is Steve and I found a family of Green Anoles living in my shed this past summer. The interesting thing about this is that I live in Pennsylvania. As far as I understand, they should not be this far north.
At first I only saw the one and would see him every now and again on hot days. Then I saw two at once and then later I saw three at once. So I assume I have a family taking shelter in my shed.
My daughter had a couple of anoles as pets back in 2002. One escaped and the other eventually died. I can’t help but wonder if the one that escaped was pregnant and happened to find my shed and the smorgasbord of insects that also take up residence there and started a family.
Thing is that there have been many winters between then and now and it is often in the single digits here during the winter. We just went through over a week where the temps didn’t get out of the single digits much. Do you think these little guys will be OK? I mean I assume they have been dealing with these conditions for many years but I don’t really know. The three I saw together were of different sizes which makes me think they’ve been there long enough to raise a family.
I am reluctant to change anything regarding how I keep the shed as I assume it has been agreeable enough in previous winters but can’t help wondering how they are doing…
I was, of course, skeptical that there could really be green anoles living outdoors in Pennsylvania – it’s just too cold in the winter. I wrote back:
Hi Steve,
This is indeed unexpected! I assume you know exactly what green anoles look like, having had them as pets. The scenario you suggest is possible, that the escaped lizard was gravid and managed to reproduce and they survived, but is not “supposed” to happen with the kind of weather you experience in PA. Also, anoles don’t usually hang out together, as they defend territories from one another (and have no parental care), so it’s also a little curious that you saw them in a group. In any case, I wouldn’t suggest changing anything about the shed, but I agree it seems unlikely that these guys (if they are anoles) would make it through the winter. Feel free to send me a photo to confirm what they are, if you’d like.
And Steve replied, with photos that make it clear that yes, there are indeed green anoles living in his shed!
I am pretty sure these are green anoles. They at least look exactly like the ones my daughter kept. Also when I saw the first one, he was initially green and then turned brown as I moved closer to check him out. Below is an image of that guy when I first saw him.
I never saw the anoles hanging out together in a group. They were just out in the shed at the same time. They do all seem to have their favorite areas. One hung out above a window with a southern exposure where there was a large spider in a web below (the spider and the web eventually disappeared). I would often see this one basking in that window. The smaller one hung out around the side door of the shed and would often be poking out from around the side door jam. The third one I saw on the chicken wire. I did see one on the vent screen once but I’m not sure which one that was. They all seemed to like the chicken wire though. I also grow Mission Figs here and I use the chicken wire and plastic sheeting, tar paper and burlap to wrap the figs for winter. All this stuff is piled up on the side of the shed where I always saw the anoles.
I have been affectionately calling them Shed Lizards since they can’t be your standard variety anole this far north and I have never seen them outside the shed …
In November 2017, I had the opportunity to join a team of scientists led by herpetologist Miguel T. Rodrigues (University of São Paulo) in an extraordinary expedition to the Serra da Neblina, a very remote tepui (sandstone table-top mountain) on the Brazil-Venezuela border. The expedition involved the Brazilian Army, several Yanomami guides, and a team of BBC journalists. We collected around 2,500 samples of amphibians, reptiles, birds, small mammals, and plants between 80 and 2,995 m of altitude – among them, at least 10 frog and lizard species new to science!
Neblina peak (2,995 m), Brazil’s highest mountain, as seen from our camp in the Bacia do Gelo (“ice basin”) at 1,997 m.
As soon as we got to an elevation of around 2,000 m, we started looking for Anolis neblininus, the Neblina anole. This mysterious lizard was described based on six individuals collected on the Venezuelan portion of the mountain in the 80’s by a team of AMNH-Smithsonian scientists. To our surprise, it took us only a few hours to find one, two, several individuals – the first records of A. neblininus in Brazil!
The Neblina anole seems to be locally abundant, with more than 30 individuals found over a week. Because of their slow movements and cryptic coloration, these lizards are really hard to spot during the day. All but two individuals were found at night, sleeping on thin branches and leaves on the edge of forest patches, at a height of 1-4 meters above the ground. Although we set up 100 pitfall traps in the area to sample herps and small mammals, all of the anoles were found through active search.
Neblina anoles really like to sleep on fern leaves – most individuals were found this way.
To learn a bit about how much Neblina anoles move during the day, we experimented with spooling a few individuals. Based on how much thread they left along their way, it seems that A. neblininus does not move much in a day. Individuals go up and down short trees and bushes, but do not seem to walk on exposed ground. However, the spools that we had – leftovers from a study of larger Enyalius lizards – may have been too awkward for such small anoles to carry.
Spooling lizards is a simple yet effective way to learn how much they move and what type of substrate they use. Unfortunately, the spools that we had were probably too big for these anoles!
Follow the thread to find the lizard!
These montane lizards experience remarkably low temperatures. At night, when temperatures were as low as 6oC, the anoles were unresponsive for long periods after captured, apparently because they were too cold. On consecutive mornings, we followed individuals (spotted on the night before) to check at what time they would become active. To our surprise, the anoles started moving at different times in each day, between 6 and 9:30 am, in an apparent association with how cold it was. It is therefore possible that the onset of activity is given mostly by temperature, as opposed to when the sun comes out.
Male Anolis neblininus. Too cold to go anywhere.
One interesting feature of A. neblininus is how variable their coloration is. Some individuals have gray bodies, others green or brown; some have yellow heads. They are also capable of changing their colors a bit. The dewlap is well developed in females, with dark spots on an orange or brown background. Male dewlaps are white, bluish, or yellowish. Neblina anoles have a very cool-looking dorsal crest, more developed in males.
Male (left, center) and female dewlaps.
Our recent studies of mainland anole lizard evolution and biogeography have found that A. neblininus is closely related to species from montane Atlantic Forest, Andes, and Andean foothills. This pattern may result from a history of cool habitats connecting South American mountains in the past, followed by habitat retraction and extinction in intervening areas. Our expedition to the Neblina revealed additional species that seem to be related with taxa from distant mountains. We are now examining their history based on genetic data to help shed light on the history of the mysterious tepui fauna.
A Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei) attempts to make a meal of a large centipede.
Anoles eat a wide variety of food items present in their environments, including all sorts of arthropods, and, occasionally, smaller anoles! We might expect that anoles would choose safe, appropriately-sized prey that would reduce chances of injury and guarantee a meal. However, some anoles, including brown anoles (Anolis sagrei), have been seen taking on potential prey that are either quite large (enough that we might foresee trouble actually swallowing the prey item) or poisonous or venomous, such as caterpillars and centipedes.
Another attempt at subduing the centipede.
Margaret Griffis O’Brien, a contributor to iNaturalist, recently observed just such a showdown on the mean streets of Miami between a brown anole and a centipede nearly its own body size. The anole made repeated attempts to take down the centipede before it was scared away from its potential meal by an intervening automobile. The centipede was injured enough from the battle that it was unable to leave the road and later in the day was found flattened by the continued traffic. The centipede, either an eastern bark centipede or the invasive Rhysida longipes, was a member of the family Scolopendridae, a group of centipedes known to possess powerful and painful (to humans, at least!) venoms.
The anole’s predation attempt was characterized by a lot of waiting for opportune moments to attack followed by quick strikes at the centipede.
Given that large, venomous centipedes have been documented in the diet of A. sagrei previously, it would be interesting to know if anoles are able to consume centipedes without being envenomated, how susceptible they are to centipede venom, and whether consuming these large, potentially dangerous prey items is advantageous for these lizards.
