Anole Annals

Not content with kicking butt in Florida, Anolis sagrei has recently been reported from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Photo by Melissa Losos.

Anole Annals has previously reported on the ongoing interactions between A. cristatellus and A. sagrei in Miami (for example, here and cool video here), as well as the invasion of Costa Rica by A. cristatellus. Now the plot has thickened.

In a 2009 paper in Zootaxa, Savage and Bolaños reported that A. sagrei had been collected in the vicinity of Limon, the same region in which A. cristatellus also has been introduced. Jay Savage has kindly provided further information that A. sagrei is not only common in some parts of central Limon, where A. cristatellus is also known to be common, but it is also reported to be common at a Shell gas station in the nearby town of Moin, a town in which, again, A. cristatellus is common. It will be interesting to see how rapidly A. sagrei spreads in Costa Rica, and how the two species interact. One interesting twist: in Miami, it is A. cristatellus that has invaded in the presence of an already well-established A. sagrei; in Costa Rica, the table is turned. There’s a great research project waiting to be done here!

Perch Compliance and Dumb Luck

By Casey Gilman

On September 26, 2011

In New Research

Thanks to Duncan Irschick’s insistence that I start a project immediately upon my arrival in the PhD program at UMass, Amherst (and inspiration from a passage in Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree stating that the effects of perch instability on anole locomotion had not yet been examined – thanks, Jonathan!), I spent part of the summer of 2011 studying the effects of perch compliance (flexibility) on green anole ecology and jumping performance in the wild. This followed my examination of the effects of this perch characteristic in the lab over the last two semesters (manuscript under review).

However, finding an ideal field site for this study proved a bit more challenging than I had anticipated. Yoel Stuart invited me to work with him on a project examining the effects of interspecific competition on diet in Anolis carolinensis and A. sagrei using stable isotope analysis last summer (we continued this project through 2011), and I based my vision of an ideal field site on my experiences watching green anoles hop and run around on slender (and quite flexible) mangrove branches. I envisioned a site with plenty of small to medium diameter branches and larger trunks for the anoles to frolic on, which would provide me with plenty of data on how these lizards use compliant perches in the wild.

After a FULL week of searching (with plenty of field site advice from Yoel), I settled on a site with the type of habitat structure I had originally been seeking, as well as many small cabbage palms (< 3m) along the forest edges.

Anole Crossword Puzzle

By Jonathan Losos

On September 26, 2011

In Anole Annals Trivia

From this site: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=2791 (note: you have to go to the site for the answers; the link below is part of the image pasted into this post and is not active)

Odd Behavior in Captive Anoles – Notes from an Anolis cybotes breeding project

By Martha Muñoz

On September 25, 2011

In Ask the Experts

Anoles cozy up in captivity. Photo by Huai-Ti Lin

This summer I have been breeding several populations of cybotoids to assess egg stage at laying in this environmentally-varied clade of anoles. The cybotoids are trunk-ground anoles from Hispaniola, which includes Anolis cybotes and related species. Captive animals often exhibit behaviors they normally may not perform in the wild, and my colony is no exception. I offer two examples and am wondering if the readers of this blog have come across similar phenomena. First, a female Anolis cybotes ate one of her eggs. When I came to search for eggs it was already in her mouth and, when I returned later, she had swallowed it. Second, the two anoles pictured here found a cozy sleeping spot together on their bamboo pole perch. Is it odd for females to eat their own eggs, or do anoles in captivity commonly do so? I should add that these lizards are properly fed, and so hunger is not likely to be the cause of the behavior. Do mating pairs warm up to each other when kept together in captivity, or do they generally keep a healthy distance even in a cage?

Non-native Anoles on Canouan in the Grenadines

By Bob Powell

On September 24, 2011

In Ask the Experts, Introduced Anoles

Any reason to think these anoles, which arrived on Canouan in a container, presumably from Florida, are anything other than Anolis carolinensis?

Anoles Still Unbeaten

By Jonathan Losos

On September 24, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Anolis nebulosus displaying. From Jenssen (1970)

In a recent post, Rich Glor–he of little faith–claimed that the multi-splendored Sitana ponticeriana outdoes all of Anolis kind by unfurling its spectacular dewlap while standing on its hindlegs. However, Joe Macedonia set the record straight in a comment, pointing out that just such behavior was reported for A. nebulosus by Jenssen. Anyone else seen anything like this?

Anole murder mystery, Part II

By Martha Muñoz

On September 22, 2011

In Notes from the Field

In a recent post Miguel Landestoy shared a phenomenal photo of an unfortunate Anolis whitemani that met an untimely end in the dunes of Salinas, in the Dominican Republic. This got me thinking about odd anole deaths that I have seen in the field. Sometimes the cause of death is quite clear. Perhaps a limb has been torn off, or the body otherwise bears the marks of predation. On other occasions, however, how the anole met its fate appears more elusive.

Anoles Beaten at Their Own Game?

By Rich Glor

On September 22, 2011

In Anole Annals Trivia, Natural History Observations

Both images from ganeshdhane's flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ganeshdhane/

Even though anoles aren’t the only lizards to have evolved dewlaps, their spectacular diversity of dewlap shapes and sizes certainly makes them leaders in the global arms race for dewlap dominance. Nevertheless, I recently came across some photos of the spectacularly dewlapped-agamid Sitana ponticeriana doing something I don’t think anoles are capable of – displaying while standing on two hind limbs. I’ve seen Australian agamids stand up for extended periods of time to display, dissipate heat, or scan the horizon, but I’ve never seen an anole do this for more than a few seconds while reaching for a new perch. Sure, anoles can do lots of other stuff to get the message across – push-ups, full-ups, elaborate tail-wags, tongue protrusions, nuchal crest extensions, gapping, etc. – but I’m just not sure they’re built to stand. My question to all the anoles lovers out there: has anybody ever seen one of our beloved creatures displaying while standing on its hind-limbs?

PS – Lots of other amazing photos of the dewlapped agamids are on Flickr

Measuring Bite Force In Anoles: The Video

By Jonathan Losos

On September 21, 2011

In New Research

The latest anole flick from Day’s Edge Productions. If you haven’t seen some of their previous work, try this one. And for an interview about this film with filmmaker and UCLA grad student Neil Losin, go here.

Anolis Cuvieri On The Prowl

By Jonathan Losos

On September 20, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Puerto Rican anole photographer extraordinaire, Father Alejandro Sanchez (you must see his webpage here) describes these photos of a female A. cuvieri: “In a karstic forest in north-western Puerto Rico, a female Puerto Rican giant anole (Anolis cuvieri) patrols its territory in search of prey. When doing so, members of this species usually move in a very deliberate way, reminiscent of chameleons to the point of moving their eyes independently as they scan the vegetation for food or danger. Anolis cuvieri is usually very tame, and this individual hardly paid any attention to my movements or the camera’s flash. After I finished shooting, the lizard allowed me to stroke its tail for a few moments before jumping out of reach.” He also noted that “I saw a couple of A. cristatellus make themselves scarce as this female A. cuvieri approched.”