Anole Annals

If this is Ron Paul, what ecomorph is Rick Santorum?

Holy smokes! It turns out that Republican electoral dynamics are completely explicable by reference to…Anolis lizard community ecology! So says noted Stanford ecologist Marc Feldman. Santorum, Paul and Romney are specialized to use different niches, and Gingrich apparently is a generalist that is having trouble competing with the specialists. Given that Feldman is from Stanford, he probably had the Lesser Antilles in mind, given the work of Joan Roughgarden. But given that there are three extant “specialists,” and that the Lesser Antilles never sport more than two species, comparison to the Greater Antilles is probably more apt, which leads to the question: which ecomorph do each of the candidates represent?

The Hi-Tech World of Anole Paleontology

By Emma Sherratt

On March 6, 2012

In All Posts, Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree

Previously, I reviewed what we currently know about anole fossils – these fossils are preserved in amber, a fossilised tree sap/resin from Mexico and the Dominican Republic (like the one pictured right). Today, I want to share how I have been using high resolution x-ray computed tomography, a.k.a CT scanning to look at these fossils and so peer into the past.

Background to CT scanning Amber

CT scanning involves x-raying an object from many angles, and then compiling these x-rays to reconstruct 3D models of the object (more detailed description here). CT scanning works when the object being scanned is made of different materials that each absorb x-rays differently. Think of a medical x-ray; skin absorbs far fewer x-rays than bone, so the two show up as different shades of grey on the developed x-ray.

The inclusions in amber are usually subfossils, where organic material still remains (e.g., bone).

Crouching Anolis, Hidden Dragon: The Stunning Sequel to Clash of the Anole Titans

By Jonathan Losos

On March 5, 2012

In Natural History Observations

Clash of the Anole Titans

From the author of “Clash of the Anole Titans” comes this poetic tale of youth redeemed, power lost, and grace under pressure. Don’t miss it.

Caught in the Act: Anole Sex and Post-coital Behavior

By Rich Glor

On March 4, 2012

In Notes from the Field

Anole Annals has certainly had its share of posts about anole sex (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4). Today I’m posting another photo of anoles having sex along with a rare shot of the immediate aftermath. As you can see in the photo on the right of a pair of Anolis chlorocyanus from the Dominican Republic, the male’s hemipenis generally remains exposed for a few a seconds after mating. During this time, the male tends to walks awkwardly away from the female while raising his pelvis off the substrate to get his junk in order.

Year Of The Lizard Poster Features Beautiful Anolis Grahami

By Jonathan Losos

On March 2, 2012

In All Posts

Don’t think I’ve ever seen one this shade of turquoise. Anyone know where it’s from?

As we all know, 2012 has been designated the Year of the Lizard. To stay up-to-date on lizardy festivities, as well as to stay abreast of issues in lizard conservation, consult http://www.parcplace.org/news-a-events/year-of-the-lizard.html. The poster can be downloaded at that site as well.

Get Your Anole Founder Effect Paper Here!

By Jonathan Losos

On March 1, 2012

In New Research

The good folks at Science magazine are giving away copies of the recent paper for free! Get yours today. Just click here.

Another Anolis cover!

By Yoel Stuart

On March 1, 2012

In New Research

Cover of Science, 2 March 2012

Anoles have gotten the cover again! This time it’s on tomorrow’s issue of Science for this work by Jason Kolbe and colleagues, covered here on Anole Annals. The photograph of A. sagrei is by Neil Losin, whose photo- and videographic works have been profiled on Anole Annals several times before.

A View Of The Anole Diversity Of The Colombian Caribbean Coast

By Juan Salvador Mendoza

On February 29, 2012

In Notes from the Field

Colombia holds more than 75 species of Anole lizards, making them the second most speciose vertebrate genus in our country next to the frog genus Pristimantis. Most species are shared with other countries of Central America and northern South America, but anoles have diverged in such an incredible way in Colombia that a large number of quite interesting and endemic species occur in the mountain highlands of the Andes, the insular portion of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean and the Chocó and Amazonian lowlands. Thirteen anole species have been registered for the Caribbean region, including lowlands and serranías. Most of these species have not been studied and the remaining habitats are disappearing at an accelerated rate, which is the reason why I find myself motivated to write this note, focusing on one of the least known neotropical lizard biotas.

Anolis Onca a desert sand dweller, Guajira, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Luis Alberto Rueda 2012

Sierra Nevada lonely twig anole. Anolis solitarius from Sierra Nevada de santa Marta (photo by Luis Alberto Rueda)

The Caribbean lowlands are one of the hottest and driest places in Colombia. This region extends from the northern Guajira deserts to the floodable plains of Cordoba. Its interior dominant habitats include seasonal dry forests, desert formations and riparian ecosystems. These habitats have been considered to be threatened by deforestation; only 1% of the dry forest formations still remain, which is why it is considered one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the nation next to cloud forests and paramos. Islands can be those land surfaces surrounded by water or those which have simply been isolated preventing migration of dispersal-limited species such as small vertebrates. Islands as the San Andres archipelago and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta have been isolated for thousands of years in such a way that most of the fauna that inhabits them is endemic. Anoles are not the exception; three endemics are registered for the cloud forests of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Anolis santamartae, A. menta, A. solitarius) and two species for the San Andres and Providencia islands (Anolis Pinchoti, A. concolor).

Dactyloa ID

By Joe Burgess

On February 28, 2012

In All Posts

I received this image from a friend of mine living in Panama. He asked me to identify the anole pictured for him. My immediate response back to him was Anolis insignis. However after looking at the animal I started to doubt my identification… the gular color seems to have too much yellow. I know that several of the Dactyloa group have been recently described, so this is possibly something new?

The photo is from Altos del Maria, cloud forest, a little east of El Valle, Panama.

Anyone dispute my ID? If so, what do you think?

CSI Luquillo: Cold Case or Hot Pursuit? Is Climate Change Affecting Puerto Rican Lizards?

By Brad Lister

On February 27, 2012

In All Posts

Three years ago I received a message from Ray Huey asking me if I’d be interested in collaborating on an NSF grant to return to Puerto Rico and replicate the studies on Anolis thermal biology and ecology that we had conducted during the 1970s. The idea was to have the original investigators, including Ray, myself, and Paul Hertz, work in the same study areas, utilize the same techniques, and document changes that had occurred over the past 35-40 years. Our ultimate goal was to understand the impact of climate warming on Anolis populations over a range of habitats, from the Luquillo rainforest in northeastern Puerto Rico to the Guanica dry forest in the southwestern corner of the island.

We eventually received NSF funding for the project, and to date I have carried out field work in Luquillo and Guanica during July 2011 and January 2012. Andres Garcia, my long term colleague from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, joined me in Puerto Rico as a co-investigator on the grant. At the Luquillo study site, we successfully repeated all phases of the research I conducted in July 1976 and January 1977 (Lister, B. C. 1981. Seasonal niche relationships of rainforest anoles. Ecology 62(6):1548-1560). The major components of this study were (1) a July and January census of forest dwelling anoles (A. gundlachi, A. evermanni, and A. stratulus) (2) measurements of perch heights, perch diameters, and perch site insolation (3) recording of body temperatures for all forest species (4) sweep samples of the forest understory during both the winter and summer seasons (5) collection of male and female A. gundlachi for subsequent scoring of reproductive condition and stomach content analysis.

Comparison of our results with those of my previous study indicate significant changes in all of the above areas.