introduction – Anole Annals

Not content with kicking butt in Florida, Anolis sagrei has recently been reported from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Photo by Melissa Losos.

Anole Annals has previously reported on the ongoing interactions between A. cristatellus and A. sagrei in Miami (for example, here and cool video here), as well as the invasion of Costa Rica by A. cristatellus. Now the plot has thickened.

In a 2009 paper in Zootaxa, Savage and Bolaños reported that A. sagrei had been collected in the vicinity of Limon, the same region in which A. cristatellus also has been introduced. Jay Savage has kindly provided further information that A. sagrei is not only common in some parts of central Limon, where A. cristatellus is also known to be common, but it is also reported to be common at a Shell gas station in the nearby town of Moin, a town in which, again, A. cristatellus is common. It will be interesting to see how rapidly A. sagrei spreads in Costa Rica, and how the two species interact. One interesting twist: in Miami, it is A. cristatellus that has invaded in the presence of an already well-established A. sagrei; in Costa Rica, the table is turned. There’s a great research project waiting to be done here!

Introduced Herps of the Caribbean

By Jonathan Losos

On May 14, 2011

In Introduced Anoles

The knight anole, Anolis equestris, gets around more than you might think. Photo by Neil Losin.

A new, two-volume set on the conservation of Caribbean herps has just been published. More on that in a minute, but let’s cut to the important stuff. There’s a great summary of the record of anole introductions (discussed previously a number of times on Anole Annals, such as here, here, here and here) in an article by Bob Powell and others. Here’s what they have to say about anoles:

“Anoles (family Polychrotidae). Anoles are highly diverse (Losos, 2009), quite adaptable, and often function as human commensals. Many species in the region exploit buildings, ornamental plants, and the night-light niche (e.g., Henderson and Powell, 2001, 2009; Perry et al., 2008; Powell and Henderson, 2008). Some are colorful and available in the pet trade (e.g., Kraus, 2009), but nearly all introductions within our region were inadvertent and attributable to stowaways in cargo such as building materials and ornamental plants.

Anolis cristatellus is native to the Puerto Rico Bank and was the only anole that made the list of most successful colonizing species (Bomford et al., 2009).

Never Underestimate The Ability Of The Media To Make A Bad Situation Worse

By Gerrut Norval

On April 28, 2011

In Anoles and Anolologists in the News

The brown anole (Anolis sagrei) was discovered in Santzepu, Chiayi County, southwestern Taiwan, in mid 2000, and except for a few academics, most people didn’t seem to notice the existence of this exotic invasive species. That all changed when red fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) were discovered in northern parts of the island in 2003. Suddenly, invasive species became a very hot topic, and the authorities launched various projects to assess and study invasive species in Taiwan. Soon, as could be expected, A. sagrei was also in the news.