Anole Annals

Anoles on HerpNet

On December 22, 2011

Anolis species in HerpNet wordcloud, name size is plotted to be proportional to the number of records on HerpNet for that species

Because I’m a big fan of obtaining data from public databases I’m writing another post on availability of anole data from huge bioinformatic databases. This time, I’ll discuss the NSF-funded database of amphibian and reptile museum records known as HerpNet. I found an astonishing 142,225 unique Anolis specimen records on HerpNet, including 602 unique binomials. The over-abundance of names relative to recognized species is due largely to lots of misspellings (I found five different spellings for vermiculatus and four for valencienni). An interesting side note on how errors in electronic databases can propagate themselves: One individual of Anolis sagifer appears in the MCZ (catalog #45484). You can see the original catalog entry here. This entry was mis-transcribed, likely when the database was digitized. That in term led to it’s presence on the MVZ website and HerpNet, and also spawned search pages on GBIF and ITIS.

Many of the five most common species on HerpNet are also among the most common on GenBank; A. sagrei (13040), distichus (8944), carolinensis (8270), cristatellus (7126), cybotes (7106). A. krugi (number 2 in terms of sequences on Genbank) falls to #22 on the HerpNet list. Lots of interesting questions could be addressed using these HerpNet records. For example, we could use these records to thoroughly investigate how new anole names have accumulated and been used over time. Has species discovery/description been leveling off? HerpNet records could also be used to consider how the anole research community’s interests have changed over time and how specific policies have impacted anole collecting? How, for example, has the US embargo of Cuba impacted collection of Cuban specimens?

The more interesting applications of the HerpNet database will come from a careful consideration of the data associated with individual specimen records. A number of efforts, for example, are already underway to use the thousands of georeferenced locality records for anoles included in the HerpNet database to address questions about geographic range and community evolution.

Kings of Greater Antillean Anole Taxonomy V: Orlando Garrido

By Rich Glor

On December 21, 2011

In Classics from the Literature

The last of the five kings described more new anoles than any of the others: Orlando Garrido. Garrido is unique among the five in two ways. First, he’s still alive, still active, and still making contributions to our understanding of anole diversity. Second, he’s actually a citizen of a Greater Antillean country: Cuba.

Garrido is often recognized as Cuba’s greatest naturalist. In addition to his impressive body of work with reptiles, he has made many other important contributions to our understanding of Cuban nature, including the spectacular “Field Guide to the Birds of Cuba.” His successes are a testament to how far science has come since Barbour’s time, when practicing science in the West Indies required a wealthy North American pedigree. I’ve credited Garrido with a whopping 24 species, all from his native Cuba.

Name the Species

By Joe Burgess

On December 20, 2011

In Anole Annals Trivia

The following West Indian species are common in their appropriate island habitats, but these here may not look typical for their species. Either the form is a geographic color morph or just kind of non representive of the species.

For some of you sage anolologists this may be somewhat easy, however I’d be curious to know how good some of you are…

I will provide answers in a few days. Have fun.

Green Anole Makes Scariest Ectotherm List

By Jonathan Losos

On December 20, 2011

In Anoles in Commerce

Doing a little holiday shopping yesterday at Barnes & Noble and came across Snakes and Reptiles: The Scariest Cold-Blooded Creatures on Earth on the bargain table. The drawings are charming and the material seems pretty factual (from a quick skim), but most importantly, an anole was included! At only $9.98, it seemed like a bargain, and you can get it for even less at Barnes & Noble’s website. Looks like a good present for young herpetologists or even older ones.

Happy Chanukah!

By ryanelogsdon

On December 20, 2011

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

Best Header Contest: Final Vote!

By Rich Glor

On December 20, 2011

In All Posts

Congratulations to Neil Losin for winning the second round of our header photo contest with his image of A. sagrei from South Miami. In an effort to be inclusive, I’ve included the top six photographers from each of the first two rounds in the final vote. Ramon E. Martínez-Grimaldo’s image in the first round slaughtered the competition with 136 votes (the next highest vote getter had 26 votes); will his image of A. isthmicus take home the grand prize?

Brown Anoles on Hawaii and Battle of the Intercontinental Convergents

By Jonathan Losos

On December 19, 2011

In Introduced Anoles, New Research

A brown anole from Lanai. Photo from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/04/28/725559/-Dove-Porn,-Avian-Conflict-and-Lanai-Dragons-A-Photo-Diary

Colonizer extraordinaire A. sagrei has been known from the Hawaiian islands since 1980 and has become established on not only Oahu, where it first appeared, but also on Kauai and Maui. Now Mautz and Shaffer report in the December, 2011 issue of Herpetological Review that it has become established in several locations on the Big Island (Hawaii).

First detected in the lush plantings of several resorts, Mautz and Shaffer figured plant nurseries were probably the culprit for their spread, as they have been elsewhere. When they visited a local garden store, sure enough, the brown anoles were there in abundance.

Indeed, where the brown anoles were found, which was not everywhere, they clearly were well-established. At one site, two observers found 26 brownies in a 1 hour, 45 minute visit, whereas at another site in only 47 minutes, 62 adult and juvenile browns were seen.

Mautz and Shaffer conclude: “Given the current limited distribution of A. sagrei on Hawaii Island, we strongly recommend that immediate action be taken to eradicate it before it can spread further.” But I’d wager that it’s too late. Brown anoles breed like rabbits and are wilier than coyotes–I’d predict that nothing less than a scorched earth policy would be able to eradicate them.

The gold dust gecko in Hawaii. Photo from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/ 2995054890_c987b2294c.jpg

Mautz and Shaffer’s article raises another interesting point about the Hawaiian herpetofauna.

The Kings of West Indian Anole Taxonomy IV: Albert Schwartz

By Rich Glor

On December 19, 2011

In Classics from the Literature

I’ve credited the fourth king of Greater Antillean anole taxonomy – Albert Schwartz – with describing eight Greater Antillean anole species. The period during which Schwartz’s career overlapped with Williams’s and that of the fifth yet-t0-be-revealed king were the glory years of Greater Antillean anole taxonomy. Over a little more than a decade in the late 1960s through the 1970s, these three figures described over 10 species, including some of the last new species discovered on Hispaniola and Jamaica. The activities of these three key figures were highly synergistic; Schwartz and Williams often contributed to one another’s work and divvied up projects to mutual benefit (even though they never described an anole species together) and Schwartz was a junior coauthor with the fifth king on several species descriptions.

After graduating with a PhD from the University of Michigan, Schwartz spent the majority of his academic career at Miami Dade Community College, an institution known more for its massive enrollment than for its faculty’s contributions to systematics. Early in his career, Schwartz worked primarily in Cuba, resulting in the description of three species, including two locally restricted species related to the Cuban crown-giant anole Anolis equestris (baracoae and smallwoodi) and a widespread trunk-ground species (jubar) that is the xeric forest counterpart to another widespread Cuban trunk-ground anole found primarily in mesic environments (homolechis). Schwartz would later devote his attention to Hispaniola, ultimately describing five species from both Haiti and the Dominican Republic. As was the case with Williams, many of the Hispaniola taxa that Schwartz described were unusual montane endemics (rimarum, fowleri, sheplani, and eugenegrahami).

The King of Anoles Has a Palacial Residence

By Jonathan Losos

On December 18, 2011

In New Research

Anolis equestris with a radio transmitter attached. Photo courtesy Paul Richards.

Knight anoles, Anolis equestris, are truly the king of anoles. The largest anole species*–with a total length approaching two feet–and a grotesquely handsome and imposing head, these lizards are surely the reigning emperor of anoles.

Little, however, is known about the natural history of these species, other than they will eat anything they can get their jaws on. Introduced into Florida many years ago, Miami populations of knight anoles would seem to be ripe for study, but little work has been published.

Nicholson and Richards have taken a step in filling this void, reporting the results of a year-long radio-tracking study conducted on the grounds of the University of Miami. The authors developed a backpack mounted radio transmitter that they strapped onto the back of knight anoles, and then located them over the course of many months. The units were small (6 g or less) and didn’t seem to hinder the lizards, which were seen mating and engaging in other activities while backpack-clad.

The primary focus of the paper is home range of these lizards, and they report several results. First, knight anoles have a large home range, on average, of about 650 square meters. This result is not surprising, as home range size seems to be strongly correlated with body size among the 15 anole species for which data are available, and the two other large anoles have comparably large ranges.

More surprising is that there is little difference in the size of home ranges of males and females, unlike what is seen in many other anole species, in which male home range is larger, often substantially. Nicholson and Richards attribute this to the arboreality of this species, although other arboreal species, albeit smaller, have also been studied with variable results. I wonder, too, whether gender differences in home range size might correlate with degree of sexual size dimorphism. Certainly, several of the species with low dimorphism had female ranges larger than those of males.

The authors also found substantial overlap in territories of individuals, both within and between sexes, an intriguing finding that suggests that detailed studies of behavior of this species–of which almost nothing is known–would be very interesting. More generally, the biology of the knight anole is mostly a blank slate. These lizards are reasonably common in Miami, and there is great work to be done. Particularly interesting would be the community effects of this species–how does its presence affect the other anole species with which it occurs?

*The largest anole species is actually a matter of dispute, as it may be one of the knight anole’s sibling species, such as A. luteogularis. In all, the equestris species complex is comprised of six species, five of which are very large.

Knight anoles can bite hard and Kirsten Nicholson values her hands. This is how the transmitter’s are placed on the lizard. Photo courtesy Paul Richards.

Kirsten E. Nicholson and Paul M. Richards (2011). Home-range size and overlap within an introduced
population of the Cuban Knight Anole, Anolis
equestris (Squamata: Iguanidae) Phyllomedusa, 10 (1), 65-73

Chameleons Eating Anoles on YouTube (Not for the Faint of Heart)

By Rich Glor

On December 18, 2011

In Natural History Observations

We’re certainly not shy about posting on our favorite lizards being eaten by other organisms (see this post and links therein). Heck, we’ve even posted on anoles being eaten by plants and insects. However, I can’t help but be a bit disturbed by videos posted online that show anoles being used as food for captive chameleons (1, 2, 3, and many others). Although many of the videos start with the anole already in the much large chameleons mouth, at least one of these videos shows a large veiled chameleon using its tongue to catch the anole (1, 2). A giant sticky tongue is not likely something anoles have evolved any defenses against.