Category: Anole Photographs Page 5 of 9

A Peek Inside an Anole

Three different individuals of Anolis cybotes that appear to have small pebbles or debris in their guts.

Three different individuals of Anolis cybotes that appear to have small pebbles or debris in their guts.

While analyzing some xrays of Anolis cybotes for my thesis work, I came across a few specimens that appear to have small dark masses in their guts. The numbers are pretty low – in over 200 xrays, I can only detect these masses in a handful of individuals. My curiosity was piqued. At first glance, they look like they might be gastroliths. Gastroliths, or gizzard stones, are rocks that animals eat to aid in digestion. Basically, the rocks help manually grind the food into smaller bits in a special portion of the digestive track called the gizzard. We know that many archosaurs (crocodilians, dinosaurs [including birds], and pterosaurs) have gizzards. Dinosaur gastroliths are some of my favorite fossils because they are usually polished and quite beautiful. However, unless I’m mistaken, lepidosaurs (squamates and rhynchocephalians) don’t have gizzards and aren’t known to have gut stones. Does anyone have an idea about what this could be? It’s possible that these are just accidental ingestions of small pebbles. Anolis cybotes do often forage near or on the ground, so perhaps it’s not so far-fetched for them to pick up a little rocky debris.

Also, check out this image of a regenerated tail!

Anolis cybotes with a regenerated tail.

Anolis cybotes with a regenerated tail.

Anolis desechensis: Little Known Anole From The Puerto Rican Bank

 

desechensis island conservation FB

 

Anolis desechensis is a member of the A. cristatellus species complex from Puerto Rico. Found only on the tiny island of Desecheo, very little is known about its natural history. In fact, some might question whether it should be a distinct species, but in the absence of any data, it’s hard to say.

This lovely photo comes from the Facebook page of Island Conservation, a wonderful organization devoted–as its name implies–to the conservation of island biota. I just heard a talk yesterday crediting them for eradicating rats from an island in the Galapagos, paving the way for preservation of a unique giant tortoise race. But that’s another story.

Variation in Anolis equestris

Last week, while going through some old pictures  I had stored on my computer , I happened upon a few photos of  A. equestris that I must have saved back when I  used to surf the web for pictures of anoles. Taking a second to glance through the pictures for old times sake, I realized something: A. equestris is actually a quite variable species. Now I’m sure others besides myself have realized this before, the people who went about naming the long list of subspecies that I just found out this species has for example, but I can’t seem to find pictures of some of these subspecies so as to identify the animals in the photos, if they are indeed different subspecies that is, so I decided to post them here in hopes of getting an ID. I have chosen one photo for each of the different forms that I have noticed. I have my guesses about many of them and I’m pretty sure about a couple others. I have written my guess, if any, under each photo along with the photo reference; could anyone who knows the ID of a particular animal post their opinion in the comments? Thanks in advance!

Anolis equestris potior or Anolis equestris cyaneus

Anolis equestris potior

Anolis equestris equestris

Anolis equestris equestris
(introduced to Miami)

 

Photo from:http://www.fotos.org/galeria/showphoto.php/photo/76326 ? probably Anolis equestris equestris

Photo from:http://www.fotos.org/galeria/showphoto.php/photo/76326
?
probably Anolis equestris  or A.luteogularis
Photo apparently taken at La Habana.
two other photos: (1,2)

 

Anois equestris, photo by Henk Wallays.  license:CC BY-NC photo from http://calphotos.berkeley.edu Anolis equestris thomasi

Anolis equestris, photo by Henk Wallays.
license:CC BY-NC
photo from http://calphotos.berkeley.edu
Anolis equestris thomasi

photo from this pdf

photo from this pdf. 
?
Other photos of this form (1, 2)
And another one taken near Playa Larga.

Ecuadorian Sweep of 2013 Anole Annals Photo Contest

Goldenscale Anole (Anolis chrysolepis) small

Anolis chrysolepis. © Lucas M. Bustamante-Enríquez/TROPICAL HERPING

It’s over, it’s all over! After more than 50 fabulous submissions, 600 votes, and detailed review of the finalists by an all-star team of anole photography experts, Anole Annals is pleased to unveil this year’s winners. Last year’s theme was blue anoles, this year’s: Ecuador!

The Grand Prize winner (above) is a lovely photo of Anolis chrysolepis taken in Amazonian Ecuador by Lucas Bustamante (check out Lucas’ photography on the Tropical Herping website or in his new book on the herpetofauna of Mindo, Ecuador). Lucas reports that the photo was taken in Yachana Lodge, an ecotourism lodge located on the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Says Lucas: “I was walking in the morning to the viewpoint and I found this male Goldenscale Anole (Anolis chrysolepis) making a display. I took my camera as soon as possible but I couldn’t photograph it “red-handed.” However, he maintained an elegant posture and I was happy with the picture. This anole lives in low vegetation and litter. Males, females and juveniles are very territorial.”

Second prize goes to Diana Troya for her fabulous photo (below) of two Anolis gemmosus males displaying to each other, tongues out, bodies raised and compressed. What a gorgeous dewlap, especially when backlit! Diana’s reports that the photo was taken “in the Natural Reserve Rio Guajalito in Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas-Ecuador. I was a field assistant of Andrea Narvaez, who is doing her doctoral thesis on the ecology of Anolis and as part of her project we had to film the display of Anolis species.”

Congratulations to both winners!

1

Anolis gemmosus. Photo by Diana Troya.

Help Identify a Mystery Lizard

mystery_lizardWe found the lizard depicted above in the herpetological collection at the University of Kansas. We have no information about where it is from or who collected it. Can anybody help us identify what species it is?

Another Blue Anole!

There’s been discussion about blue anoles previously on Anole Annalsbut I’ve come across yet another on the internet. The anole in the above picture  is a species from the Sierra de Bahoruco in the Dominican republic. Apparently it has not been formally described yet and so does not yet have a name, but from the looks of it I would say it was related to A.alliniger or singularis. This actually leaves Puerto Rico as the only island without a blue trunk-crown anole. I have found one other picture of this species on Flickr (though it does not allow for posting on other web pages).

Below is another photo from the Anolis Contact Group, of yet another new species that appears to be related to singularis.

Anole Photo Contest 2013–Time To Vote!

Name That Anole

Here’s one almost no one out there has ever seen. What is it?

Territorial Dispute

territorial_dispute_resizedI observed this (full size image) interaction in my backyard one afternoon while I was hunting for good pictures. All anoles tend to flee as I walk around my backyard, but some only retreat partially or temporarily. These two stayed relatively out in the open until I moved a little closer, causing one to flee in to the vicinity of the other one causing the event seen in the picture.

Diversity Within Lesser Antillean Anoles – Name The Species!

PowerPoint-PräsentationHey Folks,

Here is just a little task for you to get rid of unnecessary time. I made a collection of some Lesser Antillen Anoles from pictures, I took over the years or that hav ebeen given to me.

Can you name the species, or even the local morph/subspecies?

additional information: two of the pictures show females.

and here again with higher resolution.

Viele Grüße from Germany

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