Fights between male anoles in nature can get pretty serious. A few dramatic anole fight videos have already been posted on-line, including some mentioned previously on anole annals ([1], [2]). Recently, I posted photos from a fight we saw this summer on a rock along the Rio Bani between two males of A. d. ravitergum. This was the most dramatic anole fight I’ve ever seen, with the males tumbling head over heels down a boulder while locked in combat. The fight ended with one male skulking off and the other proudly displaying from atop the boulder. Now, Shea Lambert has posted his video of the fight on YouTube (Shea aptly added background music from the classic video game Mortal Kombat). This video was taken with a point and shoot digital camera, so the quality isn’t the greatest, but Shea did a great job capturing all of the acrobatics! To quote Shea immediately after the fight: “That dark anole is a straight-up ninja.”
- JMIH 2014: Early Records of Fossil Anolis from the Oligocene and Miocene of Florida, USA - August 13, 2014
- JMIH 2014: Relative Contribution of Genetic and Ecological Factors to Morphological Differentiation in Island Populations of Anolis sagrei - August 7, 2014
- JMIH 2014: The Ultrastructure of Spermatid Development within the Anole, Anolis sagrei - August 5, 2014
Shea
For anyone interested, here is the full fight (no sound): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8i21C-kARg
It’s worth watching the beginning for the furious push-up and dewlapping contest.
Rich Glor
I believe the sound was cut due to foul language from those watching the bout…
Hispanioland
Yes, like those sounds produced in a public cockfight any sunday morning in rural DR…
Rich Glor
Hispanioland has reminded me of something that came up after I posted this video. After you watch the video, youtube recommends some other anole fight videos. Some of these are really dramatic, particularly when they’re dubbed over with the Rocky theme song (e.g., this one). However, after watching a few of these I became concerned that people are actually staging fights between anoles for entertainment, like a cockfight. I’ve convinced myself that all the videos I’ve seen on youtube are actually filmed in nature with intervention, but I wouldn’t put it past folks to get some pleasure out of staging anole bouts…
Roberto Guerra
The Anolis predation video was spetacular. Congratulation!