Anole Annals

Greater Antillean anoles would not be a model system for studies in ecology and evolutionary biology without the foundation provided by a century and a half of careful work by anole systematists. Because their contributions often go unrecognized, I thought I’d use this post to call attention to the work of some of the most important figures in Greater Antillean anole systematics. I’m going to focus here on alpha-taxonomy, and specifically on description of new species (we’ll do later posts on the history of anole phylogenetic systematics and descriptions of subspecies). The majority of the nearly 120 species of anoles found on Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico were described by five key figures and their colleagues.

Anole Annals Poetry Competition extended

By Yoel Stuart

On December 5, 2011

In All Posts

We’ve decided to extend the deadline for the poetry competition one more week. We’ve had a number of good entries but would love some more!

Holiday Gift Ideas for Anole Lovers

By edunn1205

On December 4, 2011

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

Still looking for the perfect gifts for friends and family? Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like an anole-themed present!

For the wine connoisseur: These wine glass charms can double as necklace pendants! They are also the perfect way to spice up your holiday parties.
For the home decorator: There’s nothing better to see just as you enter a room than a charming light switch plate.
For the fashionista: These headbands are sure to be seen on the runways any day now. Who doesn’t want to look like they have an anole crawling through their hair?!
For the green thumb: If you can’t have real anoles in your garden, the next best thing is a ceramic one.
For the coffee lover: Now the caffeine addict in your life can enjoy their morning cup with an anole in hand.
For the businessman: This stylish anole tie is sure to impress the boss at the next board meeting!
For the dog: Even man’s best friend can show off his/her love for anoles.

I hope that these fool-proof gifts will ease your stress this holiday season!

Not All Embryos are Created Equal

By Thomas Sanger

On December 3, 2011

In Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

The pages of Anole Annals were recently graced with beautiful photos of Anolis embryos (here), their allure attracting attention from far and wide (here). Unfortunately, development doesn’t always go according to plan. While slight perturbations to development can create fodder for natural selection, more extreme phenotypic mutations can create not-so-hopeful monsters (a play on R. Goldschmidt’s theory of hopeful monsters which predicts that relatively large homeotic mutations can contribute to evolutionary saltations). Several years ago I dissected this embryo of A. sagrei. Count the body parts.What do you see?

This is likely one of the most extreme mutant Anolis embryos I have collected. I regularly find dead embryos that appear normal morphologically and died for unknown causes. But this is the other extreme. This embryo clearly possesses a well-developed, seemingly normal head, limbs, and tail. It is even beginning to develop scales on the limbs and body. Without dissection I cannot be precisely sure about the nature of this mutation, but one can readily discern that there is no well-defined body axis, the head, tail, limbs all emerge from a nondescript central mass of tissue. Perhaps more interesting in this light, there also appears to be an axis duplication. Eight limbs, two tails, and two sets of hemipenes are visible, but only one head (note, only one eye is visible but both are present). Can’t see everything? Check out the labeled photos below.

Staged Anole Fights on YouTube?

By Rich Glor

On December 3, 2011

In Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

Fights among anoles are fairly common in nature, and we’ve had several previous posts documenting anole fights captured on film (1, 2, 3, 4). A casual browsing of YouTube reveals many more anole fights, mostly between male Anolis carolinensis (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Many of these videos use the Rocky theme music to set the tone. I was really enjoying watching these videos until I got to thinking that some of them might actually be staged. I browsed the comments to see if I could figure out if the fights were staged, but didn’t come up with any definitive proof (in a few cases, I added my own comment asking directly if the fights were staged). However, there are certainly people who have commented that watching these videos has inspired them to raise fighting anoles. What do you think? Do some of these fights look staged to you?

Anolis Warfare – Pictures of an Epic Battle in Guadeloupe

By Martha Muñoz

On December 2, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Male Anolis marmoratus marmoratus from the town Capesterre in Guadeloupe.

Ali versus Frazier. Athens versus Sparta. Harry Potter versus Voldemort. History has had it share of epic battles, many of which we have documented on the Anole Annals, such as here and here. In my humble opinion, however, none of those minor scuffles can measure up to a thrilling encounter I photographed between two males of Anolis marmoratus on the island of Basse-Terre in Guadeloupe.

Anole Annals Post Featured on New Scientist Magazine Website

By Jonathan Losos

On December 1, 2011

In All Posts

Martha Muñoz’s photo of developing Anolis longitibialis embryos were selected as a “Short Sharp Science” feature. Congratulations, Martha!

Anole-Hummingbird Interactions

By Ambika Kamath

On December 1, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Several posts on this blog (here and here and here) have reported interactions between birds and our favourite lizards, most of which have involved predation (but see here). Here’s a slightly different twist on the theme.

Boal (2008), in a paper in the Journal of Caribbean Ornithology, described the response of a female Antillean Crested Hummingbird on Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands to an Anolis stratulus that got too close to her nest. Anyone who has watched hummingbirds interact with each other for even a little while (particularly around hummingbird-feeders) will know how vicious they can be, and it isn’t surprising that a nesting female wouldn’t hesitate in attacking a lizard likely bigger than herself.

Spot the Antillean Crested Hummingbird

Anole Research at Animal Behavior Meeting in Summer of 2011

By Julienne Ng

On November 30, 2011

In New Research

Thom’s recent post on the upcoming SICB meeting reminded me that I was yet to share the anole research I learned about at the Animal Behavior Meeting this past summer in Bloomington, Indiana. There were just a handful of presentations on herp research during the meeting, and I was excited to see that there were others presenting work on anoles:

Sarah Flanagan presented work from her Honors thesis with Catherine Bevier whereby she used mate choice experiments to test whether female Anolis sagrei prefer males with greater physiological capacities and/or higher quality territories. Sarah’s study showed that females preferred males with depleted liver glycogen (glycogen levels were measured in leg muscle and liver samples after mate choice trials). Females, however, did not show a preference for males in a territory filled with plants over males in bare territories.

Baby Anoles – Cute, Cuddly, and Easily Staged!

By Martha Muñoz

On November 28, 2011

In Research Methods

Check out this piece in the New Scientist, which picked up on our images of Anolis embryos and Thom’s awesome research!

Embryo of Anolis longitibialis, a trunk-ground anole from the Dominican Republic.

The readers of this blog do not need to be convinced that anoles are an amazing model system in evolutionary biology. New and exciting research often finds its way to the Anole Annals. Here we’ve learned about emerging trends in Anolis genomics, speciation, and comparative phylogenetics, to list just a few. In recent years, Anolis has also become a model system for developmental biology. For example, a recent study by Dr. Thom Sanger demonstrated that the diversity of limb dimensions among ecomorphs have evolved from similar developmental mechanisms.

This summer I worked a bit with Thom to learn how to stage Anolis embryos using his handy staging series as a guide. The goal of the project was to determine the stage at which female anoles laid eggs under two treatment conditions – a hot treatment (32°C) and a cold treatment (20°C). I had females from three populations of A. cybotes (55, 700, and 1400 meters in elevation), one population of A. shrevei (2450 m), and one population of A. longitibialis (100m). Unfortunately, I was unable to collect very many eggs despite letting the experiment run for six weeks. I did, however, manage to get several beautiful embryos, which I have imaged and staged. Here I’ll provide some pictures and give a few shorthand methods for staging Anolis embryos.