Anole Annals

With the genome of green anole available for download, anole researchers are apt to face a dilemma related to both experimental design and the taste and judgment of science consumers. My colleagues and I recently published an article in Genome Biology and Evolution in which the anole genome was downloaded for analyses. Spearheaded by bioinformatics guru Charles Chapus, our experiments were conducted in silico. Through conversations with friends and colleagues, we intuited that we might face resistance to our methods because, although our hypotheses and analyses were novel, our raw data were not. Fortunately, this concern, held by some, did not postpone publication of our work, but it did raise an interesting point for discussion. Where is genomic research going, in relation to generation and/or analysis of sequence data? From the perspective of experimental design, the decision to generate new sequence depends on the research question. For population genetics studies, for example, novel sequence generation is efficacious but for whole genome comparisons, why repeat what is freely available for download?

Have you published work based on pre-existing data? How will you decide whether to amplify or download anole sequences for analyses?

Bahamas Fieldwork 2011, Part II

By Jonathan Losos

On May 16, 2011

In Notes from the Field

Captain Leal and First Mate Kolbe. Photo by Gilligan.

Over at Chipojolab, Manuel Leal has a video and a photograph from last week’s field work on Abaco, Bahamas. The video is of yours truly, failing to noose a wily brown anole, Anolis sagrei. More interesting is the photo of Leal next to an odd looking piece of equipment. What is that gizmo? Here’s a close-up:

By slowing turning the knob at the lower right, the tweezers are pulled downward, allowing the dewlap to be pulled out to maximal extension.

This Rube Goldberg contraption is used to pull out a male’s dewlap to take color readings with a spectrophotometer.

Introduced Herps of the Caribbean

By Jonathan Losos

On May 14, 2011

In Introduced Anoles

The knight anole, Anolis equestris, gets around more than you might think. Photo by Neil Losin.

A new, two-volume set on the conservation of Caribbean herps has just been published. More on that in a minute, but let’s cut to the important stuff. There’s a great summary of the record of anole introductions (discussed previously a number of times on Anole Annals, such as here, here, here and here) in an article by Bob Powell and others. Here’s what they have to say about anoles:

“Anoles (family Polychrotidae). Anoles are highly diverse (Losos, 2009), quite adaptable, and often function as human commensals. Many species in the region exploit buildings, ornamental plants, and the night-light niche (e.g., Henderson and Powell, 2001, 2009; Perry et al., 2008; Powell and Henderson, 2008). Some are colorful and available in the pet trade (e.g., Kraus, 2009), but nearly all introductions within our region were inadvertent and attributable to stowaways in cargo such as building materials and ornamental plants.

Anolis cristatellus is native to the Puerto Rico Bank and was the only anole that made the list of most successful colonizing species (Bomford et al., 2009).

Poll: What Is This Contraption For?

By Jonathan Losos

On May 13, 2011

In Research Methods

Good work Anole Annalers! For the answer, go here.

Not All Lizards Attended That Lesson

By Gerrut Norval

On May 12, 2011

In Natural History Observations

: The Lizard Keeper’s Handbook. p 101

In his book, The Lizard Keeper’s Handbook (1997. Advanced Vivarium Stystems, Inc.), Philippe de Vosjoli explains at length how to select prey items of appropriate sizes to feed to pet lizards. I agree 100% with what he wrote. However, I must say that not all lizards apply these rules under natural conditions (I guess they were absent from class on the day that lesson was taught). Here are some photographs I took of brown anoles and Swinhoe’s tree lizards in my study area that preyed on prey items that most certainly did not fall within the ideal prey size categories.

1. An Anolis sagrei male with a large caterpillar.

2. An Anolis sagrei female with the remains of a grasshopper that she had had in her mouth when we captured her.

3. A Japalura swinhonis female that rushed in to grab a beetle grub that was exposed when we accidentally knocked over a dead betelnut palm (Areca catecha) in our study area.

4. A Japalura swinhonis male that captured an adult Clanis bilineata in the secondary forest in our study area.

And I believe that anyone who works with the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) would agree with me that these lizards can do some truly amazing things, as can be seen from the photos above. One of the most mind-boggling things I have found in the stomach contents of some of these lizards are centipedes. On one occasion I found a 43 mm long Chinese red-headed centipede (Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans) in the stomach of a brown anole male (SVL = 54 mm). Not only was the prey almost as long as the body length of the predator, but centipedes are venomous. It takes guts to take on such a meal!

Brown Anoles Also Eat Butterflies And Moths

By Gerrut Norval

On May 12, 2011

In All Posts, Natural History Observations

Here are three photographs I took of brown anoles preying on lepidopterans. In our diet studies lepidopterans were one of the main prey types, although, as can be expected, the larvae outnumbered the adults as prey. Amazingly, the lizards even ate larvae that had hair, which would cause an irritating burning sensation if it comes in contact with your skin.

Famous Anolis Painting

By Jonathan Losos

On May 11, 2011

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

Name that lizard.

Mark Catesby was a famous wildlife artist who preceded Audubon by 100 years. He is best known for The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas Islands, which is the subject of an article, “Catesby’s Gallery: A Trailblazing Naturalist in the New World,” in the February, 2011 issue of Natural History magazine. The article has reproductions of a number of his paintings, mostly birds, but also plants a crab and… “in a whimsical painting, Catesby shows a Jamaican Anolis lizard, splay-legged and getting a toehold on leafy sprigs of a mainland tree, the sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua).” Elsewhere, the article comments that the pairing of the Jamaican anole with a Carolina sweet gum was “seemingly random.” More importantly, what is the anole? My guess is a female A. garmani. But, the color might also be consistent with an A. grahami aquarum. Thoughts?

(p.s. Thanks to Pops for pointing out this article to me)

They Don’t Eat Butterflies, Do They?

By Jonathan Losos

On May 10, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Photo by Larry Ditto. http://kacproductions.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Reptiles-and-others/G0000aYUEKKoWeyY/I00001RHu91IeOnI

Recently, a colleague and I were discussing how university greenhouses could be more profitably used if they were filled with anoles. This led us to discussion of one particular local greenhouse, full of butterflies nattering about for no apparent purpose. I suggested that this would be a particularly good spot to introduce some anoles, because food would be at the ready, but she questioned whether anoles would, indeed, eat butterflies. I claimed they would, and she back-pedaled, stating that surely A. carolinensis at the least was not swift enough for such a feat.

Neither of us knowing the answer, we decided that some research must be done, so quickly moved to the computer. One quick Google Image search proved her wrong on all counts. Above is the most beautiful of the counterpoints, and here is the story that goes with it, from photographer Larry Ditto of McAllen, Texas: “What can I say? I walked out into my front yard where there is a butterfly garden and saw this anole eating a queen. The lizard was climbing an arching trellis with the butterfly in its mouth. I assume it caught the queen as the butterfly fed at one of our mist flowers (there were many other queens nectaring at these plants). I grabbed the camera and made many photos while the anole swallowed its prey.”

Light up my life

By Thomas Sanger

On May 9, 2011

In Ask the Experts, Research Methods

Juvenile A. coelestinus from the Dominican Republic (photo T. Sanger)

Have you ever tried to collect elusive twig anoles? What about small juveniles living in the leaf litter or dense foliage? If you are interested in these or many other hard to find species you have almost undoubtedly gone searching for them at night when the unsuspecting lizards lie sleeping on twigs and leaves ripe for the picking. You have most likely also struggled with the decision of what light to carry during these difficult missions. From hardware store handhelds to the latest and greatest light used for international climbing expeditions, the options can be mind-boggling (as well as the price of some high end lights!). With field seasons fast approaching I decided that it would be a good idea to share some of my thoughts regarding the choice of lights used for night herping.*

Anolis Evolution Classroom Exercise

By Jonathan Losos

On May 8, 2011

In All Posts

The University of California Museum of Paleontology has a wonderful website on evolution education, including a number of classroom exercises. One of these focuses on using phylogeny to understand the evolution of the Greater Antillean ecomorphs.