Category: Natural History Observations Page 15 of 34

Within the framework of my PhD, I examine what determines dewlap diversity in Anolis sagrei and aim to improve understanding of the morphological, performance and behavioural variation within this species on diverse Caribbean islands. Last month I was sampling a few brown anole populations on the Cayman Islands and I encountered some interesting curly tail – brown anole interactions, which might be worth mentioning on Anole Annals. Previous observations have shown that curly tails (Leiocephalus carinatus) do eat a lot of anoles, including A. sagrei; see previous posts (<1>, <2>, <3>, <4>)

Curly-tailed together with plasticine anole model on Cayman Brac

Our sample site at Cayman Brac consisted of a very dense brown anole and curly-tailed population living together. To make an estimation of the relative predation pressure, I generally place 120 plasticine anole models per sampling site and recollect them after 48 hours to score for predation marks. Because of the high abundance of curly tails on our site in Cayman Brac, I expected to recollect many attacked plasticine models, but instead… (see pictures). The curly-tailed does not intend to attack the model, but is trying to copulate with it! A rather unexpected observation from my point of view. Of course, the models are not moving and the chemical cues are completely absent, but still… Furthermore, I made lots of  behavioural observations on A. sagrei individuals and had the impression that they didn’t care at all about the presence of curly tails close by. The brown anoles were often perching within less than 1.5m  of a curly-tailed and still very relaxed; and vice versa, the curly tails didn’t really care about the brown anoles sitting near. In contrast, when a red-legged thrush (Turdus plumbeus) was approaching, all anoles in the close surroundings escaped very fast.

Conclusion: it seems that curly tails on Cayman Brac ‘love’ their prey…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ni3QbKgesI

Last year Martha Muńoz posted on AA about odd behaviors of captive anoles.

Following recent posts about the production of “slugs” or infertile eggs, I thought the readers of AA might be interested in this short (low quality) video of  an A. apletophallus female eating her infertile egg. I think this was a very rare event (only observed once – out of many females) and probably an artifact of being in captivity. Possibly the egg rolled off a leaf or branch and the female grabbed it thinking it was an insect. In the wild the infertile eggs would be consumed very quickly by any number of things – like ants or fungus.

Like others breeding anoles, I have thought a lot about the production of infertile eggs. Female A. apletophallus are egg factories; in the absence of sperm they will produce infertile eggs continuously. I have always thought this was strange – it seems like a waste of resources – why don’t they reabsorb or eat their infertile eggs. The female “knows” the egg is infertile – it is deposited with little or no shell and she does not bury it like a fertile egg.  I presume hormones play an important role in governing this bury or do not bury behaviour. In the case of apleotphallus, all mature females have sperm and when they are relocated into captivity will produce fertile eggs. So I think it is fair to say that in nature they are never lacking sperm, so they will not produce infertile eggs often. Hence under normal circumstances there is no cost to producing these “slugs.”

That’s one beat up looking old dude, but apparently he’s still got it. Or does he? She seems to have one foot out the door.

We’ve been following the backyard anole antics reported in Daffodil’s Photo Blog for some time now, and Easter provided a heartwarming photo-story of an old guy who can still find some love. And this old guy seems like he’s seen some better days.

The Hispaniolan Northern Green Anole (Anolis cholorocyanus) is a widespread species in the trunk-crown ecomorph. Its known distribution is almost entirely restricted, as the name indicates, to the north paleo-island of Hispaniola, but also includes Gonave, Tortue and Saona islands, and some portions of local “mesic” (oases) forests and hills south of Valle de Neiba, in the northern slopes of Sierra de Baoruco.

A. chlorocyanus, photographed at Jaragua National Park station in Laguna de Oviedo, Pedernales province.

The individual pictured to the left was photographed the 12th of March 2013 in a far south locality for the species, in the facilities of the Jaragua National Park, NE of Oviedo. Consulting Schwartz & Henderson 1991, and Henderson & Powell 2009, it is mentioned that its occurrence may extend into the Barahona city, which is 53 kms from the recently reported locality (Google Earth, measured as airline distance). Caribherp.com does not display it for that area in the species’ range map. Anolis chlorocyanus is a mesophilic anole as well as a human commensal, so there is the possibility that the species arrived at this disjunct locality by the transportation of construction material used to build the park’s station (several years ago), or arrived on flotsam that often washes ashore in this area of the Barahona peninsula coast (sea currents bring debris and garbage from far east). Since A. chlorocyanus‘s south island counterpart, A. coelestinus, has a restricted range through the Domincan Republic, I haven’t seen any interaction between the two, despite the fact that the latter is also a human commensal (in Pedernales and along the Barahona coast). A similar scenario could be displayed when comparing distributions of other two ecologically (tough xeric) equivalent north and south island species: A. whitemani and A. longitibialis; the former shares a similar distribution with A. chlorocyanus along the Baorucos, and seems to be limited by topographic/climate features or direct competition by its southern counterpart, A. longitibialis. I have observed both species of trunk-ground anoles independently using the same saxicolous-based subtrate in this mountain range, one in the southern (but primarily in the Barahona peninsula’s lowlands), the other in its northern slopes.

Adding some more ecological notes, A. chlorocyanus can often be observed using royal palm trees (Roystonea), usually high near the base of flower/fruit fronds, which when in blossom attract many bees and other insects.

A. chlorocyanus as typically seen in Los Haitises, in a royal palm (Roystonea). Photo taken near Caño Hondo.

Fringe-lipped bat chows on a frog. Apparently, they take lizards, too. Photo from Smithsonian Science.

A quick answer to my question posed a few days ago. Some bats do, indeed, eat anoles. In particular, the fringe-lipped bat Trachops cirrhosus has been reported to do so a number of times, I now know thanks to avid anolologist and zoological polymath Anthony Herrel. Try googling “anole” and “trachops.” One hit with several references comes from the entry in Mammalian Species for Trachops, although only one paper specifically identifies anoles (A. lemurinus being the victim), as opposed to “lizards” or geckos.

Anolis fuscoauratus. Photo by Roberto Langstroth

AA reader Roberto Langstroth writes:

Perhaps Anole Annals readers would enjoy these shots of a displaying A. fuscoauratus on the Nassau Plateau of Suriname.  The second photo shows some interesting behavior, e.g., the tail curling and the tongue protrusion.  There were two individuals involved in vigorous displays…as the third blurry “artistic shot” shows…  They were on a vertical trunk of a large tree about 6 meters above ground on a steep slope on the plateau in March 2010.

From Daffodil’s Photo Blog

We’ve had a series of posts on rates of tail regeneration. Daffodil’s Photo Blog, which often features anoles, has just presented a photo tryptych illustrating tail regrowth in green anoles.

Caicos Dwarf Boa (Tropidophis greenway) eating an Anolis scriptus. Photo by Matthew Niemiller.

Neotropical snake and Caribbean expert Bob Henderson writes: “In going over some prey data for a chapter on diet and foraging in species of Corallus and the dramatic dichotomy between West Indian and mainland Corallus, I came up with some numbers you might find interesting.

I recovered 970 vertebrate prey items from West Indian snakes. Of those, 559 (57.6%) were anoles. The next closest prey genus was Eleutherodactylus (129; 13.3%).

Among ground dwelling or largely ground-dwelling species (tropes, colubrids, dipsadids), anoles accounted for 54.1% of their prey. Among arboreal snakes (Corallus, Hispaniolan Epicrates, and Uromacer), anoles accounted for 64.1%.

I suspect there are very few West Indian macrostomatan snakes that do not include anoles in their diets at some time during their lives.”

Don McLeish has photo-documented an amazing battle between two green anoles in his backyard. The fight went on for at least an hour, and when he checked in on the lizards at night, one was still breathing hard hours later. Check out the photos!