Author: Jonathan Losos Page 95 of 130

Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.

What can a kitty cam tell us about the secret lives of anoles? Photo from http://blogs.inlandsocal.com/pets/4501cat.jpg

The 97^th annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America begins Sunday in Portland. These meetings are truly enormous, and given the great amount of ecological research, past and present, on anoles, it’s surprising that there are not more anole talks scheduled. Nonetheless, there are three, and they look to be good ones. On Tuesday, Sean Giery will talk about studies on the ecosystem role of anoles in Miami. Basically, by examining stomach contents and measuring stable isotopes, he determined the extent to which terrestrial resources enter arboreal ecosystems. For A. equestris and A. distichus, the route is terrestrial insects walking up trees and being eaten, whereas for A. sagrei, it results from foraging on the ground. Also on Tuesday, Jason Kolbe talks on an experimental study of founder events in the Bahamas. We’ve already reported on this study, but Jason will be providing at least a few snippets of new data from this year’s field season. Finally, on Thursday, Kerrie Anne Lloyd will talk about a study looking at predation rates by domestic cats in Georgia, as determined by placing Kitty Cams on housecats. Turns out that a favorite prey item is, alas, green anoles.

Check out the abstracts for these talks below the fold, and if any AA readers attend the talks, please file a report.

Best Anole Documentary Ever

By Jonathan Losos

On August 2, 2012

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXPcYUnKRM

At least according to some. AA emailed the production team asking for the back story, but we still await a response.

And while we’re on the topic of anole flicks, here’s a video of an emaciated but alert and active female green anole slowing changing color.

Movie Review: Anoles, Spiders, And Superheroes

By Jonathan Losos

On July 31, 2012

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

Spoiler Alert: I’m about to discuss the central plot of Spiderman. I assume most readers are by now familiar with the movie’s central conceit, namely that a noble scientist valiantly strives to create a race of super-lizards with extraordinary powers to benefit all of humanity, but tragically is stymied by the movie’s villian, a pajama-clad arachnophile with psychological baggage that produces an unreasonable antipathy to all things reptilian.

I won’t go into the particulars, but suffice to say that until its tragic denouement, the work is a herpetological marvel, as well as an inspiration to what may be accomplished by the miracles of genomics. Particularly impressive was the scene in which the oversized saurian regenerates its tail–quite graphically and accurately–in real time. Admittedly, the CGI lizards (of which I can’t find any photos online) were not quite up to par, but not a bad effort. Moreover, the best character in the movie is the chief scientist, Curt Connors, who immediately upon entrance introduces himself as the world’s foremost authority on herpetology and, as if to prove it, has an office replete with herpetological items (ok, two that I noticed: a stuffed turtle and a sea turtle skull).

Dr. Curt Connors, the world’s foremost herpetologist.

But, you may be thinking, a movie featuring lizards is great in all, but what’s the connection to anoles? Admittedly, there was no lizard or superhero in the movie who could be identified as anoline (incidentally, Time magazine has a nice discussion of what actual lizards may have been the basis for these creatures). However, and you may consider this a stretch, there was one link to the anole world: Connors, the scientist, was a dead ringer* for Jonathan Roughgarden (vintage 20 years ago), a resemblance enhanced by Collins’ obvious theoretical brilliance. Now, of course, it was disappointing when Connors transformed himself into a Komodo-sized saurian that bore no resemblance to Anolis gingivinus or any other Lesser Antillean anole, or even any anole at all, but perhaps we can save that for the sequel (Spiderman II: The Anole Strikes Back), when Connor triumphantly re-emerges to vanquish the spider-people and save humanity.

*by “dead ringer” I mean “bore a slight resemblance, at least in my mind’s eye”

Scary? Try adding a dewlap and toepads!

Anolis Carolinensis Lab Model Of The Month

By Jonathan Losos

On July 28, 2012

In All Posts

The good folks at Lab Animal, put out by the Nature Publishing Group, have named the green anole Miss June, er, I mean Model Animal of the Month in their June issue. If you’re not familiar with this periodical, it’s a “peer-reviewed journal publishing timely and informative editorial material emphasizing proper management and care. Lab Animal reaches over 10,000 professionals in both the academic world and applied research industries.” Obviously, quite a perceptive bunch, and the article, “The Ever Adaptable Anole,” is quite accurate and informative.

Anon. (2012). The ever-adaptable anole Lab Animal, 41 (6), 149-149 DOI: 10.1038/laban0612-149

More On Anoles And Day Geckos In Hawaii

By Jonathan Losos

On July 27, 2012

In Natural History Observations

Photo by Tony Gamble.

We at Anole Annals are a little obsessed with what’s going on between anoles and those anole-wannabees, the day geckos, in Hawaii. Really, someone’s gotta’ study this. Here’s a photo kindly provided by Tony Gamble demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt that the two species coexist. Here’s Tony’s take on whether the species interact:

Photo by Tony Gamble

“I didn’t see too many interactions between geckos and anoles. I would see large male anoles walk around and display in places loaded with day geckos. The geckos would certainly get out of the way of the brutish anoles but I did not observe anoles actually chasing or attacking geckos. Both species seem to be far more concerned with intraspecific interactions (attached photo on left shows a male Anolis eyeing the female on the other side of the fence). In some places they co-occurred at incredibly high densities (see photo below the fold) and given the abundance of roaches and spiders food does not seem like its a limiting factor. In Kona, which is fairly dry, anoles tend to be found only in areas that are irrigated (e.g. gardens, hotels, strip malls). Day geckos are more abundant in those places but can be found almost everywhere – even away from developed areas. It is possible interspecific interactions are different on more mesic parts of the big island and on other islands where more area is open to anoles. This is certainly an experiment in progress – we just need to find some time to observe it.”

Leal, Fleishman Labs In The Field

By Jonathan Losos

On July 26, 2012

In All Posts

Follow their exploits as they rampage through the eastern Caribbean, measuring dewlap spectra and general wreaking havoc. Most recently, they’ve been to St. Croix to examine the enigmatic Anolis acutus, a refugee of the cristatellus clade that somehow made its way from Puerto Rico and now flourishes as the only anole on this island. Most amazingly, the density of this species is outrageously high, with many males peacefully coexisting on a single tree, like a bunch of hippies. Why do they do this? If anyone can figure this out, Manuel Leal, Leo Fleishman and company are just the ones. Stay tuned to Chipojo Lab for further updates.

Are Green Anole Populations Declining Due To Drought?

By Jonathan Losos

On July 25, 2012

In Natural History Observations

From http://www.thedrillpress.com/tex/2008-11-01/tex-2008-11-01-splinter-bgreenwood-04.shtml

AA reader Jim Jackson writes:

“I would like to suggest a topic for a post on Anole Annals: Has anyone besides me observed a collapse in “their” local A. carolinensis population? I live near Tallahassee, Florida, and have always had a large population of Green Anoles on my property; during September, 2011, there were at least 30 individuals around my house and on shrubs and small trees in the yard. Even in May, 2012, there were a dozen. Yesterday around noon I found an emaciated hatchling under a cover object. Very odd. I searched the property for active anoles and found none.

There has been a moderate drought here since 2010, and the larger-bodied flying insects (bees/butterflies) on flowers seem less abundant than in 2009. Reduced food resources could explain a population decline, but the drastic change on my one acre seems hard to attribute solely to starvation. There are no sagrei on my property.”

Anyone got any thoughts?

Anole Photo Of The Day

By Jonathan Losos

On July 22, 2012

In All Posts

Tweeted by Meet Your Neighbors, who describes itself thusly: Founded in 2009, Meet Your Neighbours is a worldwide photographic initiative created by Niall Benvie and Clay Bolt. The project is dedicated to reconnecting people with the wildlife on their own doorsteps – and enriching their lives in the process. These creatures and plants are vital to people: they represent the first, and for some, the only contact with wild nature we have. Yet too often they are overlooked, undervalued.

Anoles Nab Another Journal Cover

By Jonathan Losos

On July 20, 2012

In All Posts

Seems every few months, another journal has the good sense to put an anole on the cover. Most recent: the new journal Ecology and Evolution, which only took 19 issues to get with the program. We’ll be reporting on the article soon, but for now, enjoy the cover, which is another beautiful photograph by Neil Losin. And here’s a montage of all the recent covers…unless I’ve forgotten one.

2012 Anole Photo Contest!!!

By Jonathan Losos

On July 18, 2012

In All Posts

Grand Prize

Last year we had an Anolis photo contest and produced a 2012 anole calendar. Both were wildly successful. Today, Anole Annals is pleased to announce it is combining both. We herewith announce the 2012 Anole Photo Contest. The goal of the contest is to identify 12 winning photos. The grand prize winner will have her/his photo featured on the front cover of the 2013 Anole Annals calendar and will receive an autographed copy of Karen Cusick’s lovely book, Lizards on the Fence. The second place winner will receive a copy of the calendar and have her/his photo featured on the backcover of the calendar.

This year’s calendar. Put your photo on the cover of next year’s version!

The rules: please submit photos as attachments to anoleannals@gmail.com. To ensure that submissions with large attachments arrive, it’s a good idea to send an accompanying e-mail without any attachments that seeks confirmation of the photos receipt. Photos must be at least 150 dpi and print to a size of 11 x 17 inches. If you do not have experience resizing and color-correcting your images, the simplest thing to do is to submit the raw image files produced by your digital camera (or, for the luddites, a high quality digital scan of a printed image). If you elect to alter your own images, don’t forget that its always better to resize than to resample. Images with watermarks or other digital alterations that extend beyond color correction, sharpening and other basic editing will not be accepted. We are not going to deal with formal copyright law and ask only your permission to use your image for the calendar and related content on Anole Annals. We, in turn, agree that your images will never be used without attribution and that we will not profit financially from their use (nobody is going to make any money from the sale of these calendars because they’ll be available directly from the vendor).

Please provide a short description of the photo that includes: (1) the species name, (2) the location where the photo was taken, and (3) any other relevant information. Twelve winning photos will be selected by readers of Anole Annals from a set of 28 finalists chosen by the editors of Anole Annals. The grand prize winning and runner-up photos will be chosen by a panel of anole photography experts. Deadline for submission is September 30, 2012.