Graham is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina Asheville. His research focuses on Caribbean herpetology- specifically anoles and boas.
Hi Everyone, a quick post to see if anyone out there is interested in contributing to a large ongoing project on Anolis sagrei. We are sampling this species throughout the (mostly) native range, and currently have 77 sampling locations represented. However, we are wondering if anyone would be able to help us fill some remaining gaps.
We are interested in adding additional tissue samples from Central America and the Bahamas. Here is an approximate range map with some desired localities (in blue):
Any help is greatly appreciated. I realize that collecting tissues (not to mention all the paperwork) is not a trivial task, so if you are interested in contributing samples please get in touch with me. We will keep AA posted on this project!
Much of my research has been conducted on the herpetofauna of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Known to a chunk of the lay public in North America as a sweet honeymoon spot, the Turks and Caicos boast a wonderful assemblage of terrestrial reptiles, like these IUCN critically endangered TCI iguanas (Cyclura carinata):
Of course, we on AA prefer the smaller saurians, so I will draw your attention to the TCI anole (A. scriptus scriptus), a member of the Southern Bahamas Anole complex (A. scriptus).
Anolis s. scriptus, Big Ambergris Cay, TCI
Also known as the Silver Cay Anole, A. scriptus can be found across the southern Bahamas banks, including the Inaguas, Samana, Plana Cays, Mayaguana, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. I have previously posted about this understudied species (1,2), but spent a good bit of time observing them on my last research trip. They occur throughout the TCI archipelago, from the dense tropical dry forest of North Caicos, to the pine savannas of Middle Caicos and xeric outposts like the Ambergris Cays. They can also be found on nearly every vegetated rock cay.
Male, Big Ambergris Cay
The males have an attractive yellow wash on the underside, with an orange-yellow dewlap that is really striking in the bright sun. The males display from elevated perches, but are wary when approached by nosy researchers.
The females are more cryptic, both in coloration and in behavior. They often have a light stripe down the back, or occasionally darker crossbars perpendicular to the light stripe.
On Big Ambergris Cay, on the southeastern edge of the Caicos Bank, the anoles especially favor an irrigated area near a decorative plant nursery. They are voracious, taking down large prey like this cicada (Ollanata caicosensis) on the right. Hopefully this voraciousness extends to interspecific interactions, as the “Festive” anole (A. sagrei) has now firmly invaded at least one island on the Caicos Bank (1; more on this in a future post).
Phylogenetically, Anolis scriptus is nested firmly within the radiation of Puerto Rican Anoles (most recently). Most closely related to a trunk-ground clade containing A. cristatellus, A. desechensis, and A. ernestwilliamsi, the TCI Anole exhibits a curious distribution, although they really do resemble A. cristatellus. Much of the terrestrial herpetofauna of the TCI is likely derived from Hispaniola (See TOC on this post), so what did A. scriptus do to get to the TCI? Our recent research on the A. cristatellus clade suggests that A. scriptus most likely dispersed from Puerto Rico around the start of the Pliocene. This could have been accomplished completely over-water, as currents and hurricanes push flotsam in a northwesterly direction from Puerto Rico. Alternatively, the species could have island-hopped on the formerly emergent Silver, Mouchoir, and Navidad banks, now a famous calving ground for the Humpback Whale.
Although I have not visited, the Crooked-Acklins Bank is a curious intersection of Bahamian and southern Bahamian herpetofauna, where the range of the southern A. scriptus (nearby Plana Cays) meets the range of the northern A. sagrei (Crooked Island). Furthermore, the bank is the northern limit of the Southern Bahamas Boa (Chilabothrus chrysogaster), which is replaced just a few kilometers northwest on the Great Bahama Bank by C. strigilatus. Finally, the handsome endemic A. brunneus (1,2,3) occurs there.
An exciting week in the Revell Lab, we received our order of 20 poles from Cabelas, and I picked up our new custom portable x-ray system in Newark yesterday.
The use of x-ray technology has been mentioned previously in AA- here, here , here, here, and here. The Losos Lab has used a similar portable x-ray system for the last several years with great success, and so we have obtained our own unit. One of the great advantages of these systems is that they allow researchers to gather highly detailed morphological data without harming the lizards and without using tedious methods such as dissection. The animals are simply anesthetized, imaged, and released after recovery. The Revell Lab has grand aspirations for our system- our graduate student Kristin Winchell plans to use it this summer in her studies of Anolis urban ecology.
Just a heads up to those who are interested- the Revell Lab successfully placed an order for 10 and 14 foot poles and have been assured delivery around May 7th.
Another Revell Lab (Liam, Kristin, Graham) trip to Puerto Rico this spring, and another series of encounters with the diminutive Anolis occultus and the spectacular Anolis cuvieri. Both of these species can be quite challenging to find, but we have had some good success in several locations in the Puerto Rican karst region. In January, we observed many individuals of both species
And managed to get a few in-hand for pictures
We also found a juvenile cuvieri, which has a gray coloration and an ontogenetic shift to green as they age:
Unless they happen to be one of the brown morph adults,
A holiday quiz- can anyone ID this species? Found in the twilight zone of a cave in a small stream (hint) entering the main cave stream. Isla Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro Province, Panama. Apologies for the picture, one needs a good reason before hand to bring a nice camera into wet and muddy caves.
Has this species been reported from the BDT Archipelago?
To revisit an earlier post, here is some more information about the Southern Bahamas Anole, Anolis scriptus. In the Turks and Caicos Islands, this species is a crucial component of the terrestrial herpetofauana… as prey for other reptiles!
Readers of this blog might wish to avoid graphic details about anoles being eaten, but it is important to reflect on the role that these species play in ecosystems and energy cycles. In the Turks and Caicos, anoles are consumed by two endemic snakes, as well as curly-tailed lizards.
Though they are not as flashy as some of their West Indian relatives, Anolis scriptus, the Southern Bahamas Anole, is an ecologically important and interesting component of the herpetofauna of the distal end of the Bahamas Archipelago. Small and brown to brownish green, they seem to be rarely photographed or discussed, so I thought they deserved a post on Anole Annals. These are individuals from the Turks and Caicos Islands- where they are ubiquitous on most emergent land- from the largest islands at over 290 square km to the smallest rocks with some vegetation. Interestingly, this species has been shown to modify its perch height in response to the presence of predators (more on predation in a later post). When curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephaluspsammodromus) are around, the anoles are more arboreal (Smith 1994;1995). However, we have found this to be the case mostly on smaller islands, while on larger islands the anoles will still use the ground and lower tree trunks, even in close proximity to high densities of curly-tailed lizards.
