While hunting sagrei for fun this evening with my 3-year-old, we spotted a large male Anolis sagrei eating what I think is a mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris). This happened at 7:18 pm in the presence of minimal artificial light from lamps (albeit strong artificial light from my headlamp). Plenty of sagrei were already asleep on leaves. Surprising to find a diurnal lizard preying on a nocturnal/metaturnal gecko.
Our brains are fast to picture differences between males and females, probably because these differences are everywhere in nature. Popular examples might include the manes and antlers of lions and deer, which are specific to males, or maybe the striking sexual differences in coloration in many birds (think of the classic peacock example). Besides these illustrative cases, size differences between the sexes might be even easier for us to accept as a common pattern in nature. Males are, on average, larger than females in elephants, pheasants, iguanas, and in our own species. Females, however, take the role of the larger sex in other animals like spiders, snakes, and many bird species. In any case, I think one could conclude that we are familiar with the idea of males and females being phenotypically different, and that we are especially aware of sexual differences in size.
Going a step further, I think we even have a general idea of why these differences exist, at least in the case of size differences between sexes (which I will now refer to as sexual size dimorphism, or SSD) and especially in the case where males are larger than females. “Males are larger because they need to be stronger” might be a stereotyped idea, but it is ultimately true in many cases as males usually need to physically compete with other males to get access to reproduction.
You open your eyes, blinking away water, you’re on a beach you don’t recognise, and never set out to visit. You look up and along the coast, it’s an island, the flora is alien to you, the climate hotter, and you’re already sweating. An eldritch cry emanates from the forest near you, new wildlife, things you have never seen before skulk around beyond the vines that lay before you.
Lifting yourself up, you decide to escape the blazing sun. You leave the beach and push through the wall of vegetation that veils the forest from the beach. You expect it to be cooler, but it isn’t. The forest is completely new to you, as you move through the undergrowth, unfamiliar insects dart away, flying past plants you’ve never seen before. As you press on through the undergrowth you wonder how long you will have to spend here? How much more time do you have here?
Dorothy Patent, an author who specializes in writing books for young readers about science and nature, has turned her attention to our favorite lizards. Lavishly illustrated with beautiful photos by the Day’s Edge team of Nate Dappen and Neil Losin, the book is a fabulous introduction to studying evolution as it occurs.
Scientists featured will be familiar to AA readers: Shane Campbell-Staton, Jason Kolbe, Rob Pringle, James Stroud, Kristin Winchell and me.
A perfect stocking stuffer for kids of all ages (though 8-12 years old (3rd – 7th grade) is the target audience!
Here’s the description from Amazon:
In this groundbreaking, exceptionally researched installment of the award-winning Scientists in the Field series, discover how lizards rapidly adapt to life in the Caribbean islands, allowing scientists to study Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection in real time.
Award-winning author Dorothy Hinshaw Patent joins forces with scientists/filmmakers Neil Losin and Nate Dappen, whose work is detailed in the Smithsonian Channel documentary “Laws of the Lizard,” to explore how the small but mighty lizards we call “anoles” are used by scientists to study basic principles of evolution and ecology.
Travel with the team to Florida and the Caribbean as they research how anoles followed similar but independent evolutionary paths on the four major islands of the Greater Antilles (Puerto Rico, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Cuba). So while anoles on different islands may look like close relatives, they often are not! This is Darwin’s principle of natural selection at work.
And it makes anoles the perfect subjects for experiments that study how animals adapt to new challenges—such as climate change—in this exciting and timely addition to a celebrated series.
Robert Hoogveld writes:
This year the Dutch society for Herpetology “Lacerta” celebrates its 80th anniversary. To celebrate, a lot of hard work has been done over the past year on a special edition of our journal, Lacerta, entirely aimed at anoles. We call it the Anolis special. It has become a 256-page book with contributions from Anolis enthusiasts and connoisseurs from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Finland and Canada. It contains articles about, among other things, the study of anoles, behavior and welfare, travel reports with herpetological observations and species descriptions including the experiences of keeping in captivity. Although it is written in Dutch, I still think it is worth bringing this to your attention.
At the moment the book can be ordered for anyone interested. In 2023, every article will be translated into English and it will be made available on the Lacerta website: https://nvht-lac
erta.nl/.On that website, everybody can order a copy for €20, including shipping world wide.
1st place: A. carolinensis — Aaron Alcala
Aryeh Miller and Ansley Petherick
Thank you once again to everyone who participated in this year’s Anole Annals photo contest! We received over 800 total votes from 14 different countries, and now we’re ready to announce the results. First up, the grand prize winner is the photo above of an Anolis carolinensis from Georgia taken by Aaron Alcala. The second place winner is below, Anolis marmoratus from Guadeloupe, by Robert Hoogveld. Congratulations!
2nd place A. marmoratus — Robert Hoogveld
The rest of the winners are below, and their photos can be seen in the 2023 calendar here! Click the link to order your calendar. Order one tonight while they are 50% off for Cyber Monday!
An Anole Annals reader writes:
I am in search of a green anole stuffed animal for my 6 year old, Luke. He is absolutely obsessed with lizards, and for Christmas this year, he wants a stuffed green anole. He already has a stuffed Komodo dragon and stuffed chameleon which he loves. We live in Texas, and he spends countless hours in our backyard, hunting for, catching, and playing with green anoles. I never thought lizards could bring someone so much joy, but they certainly do for him! He just turned 6 in November, and we spent the day feeding iguanas at the aquarium. I have looked all over the internet, and it appears there used to be one made (pictured above; click link for Anole Annals story on it), but it was discontinued quite awhile ago and I’ve been unsuccessful in finding any used ones on ebay, etc. If anyone has one they’d be willing to sell or part with, I would truly appreciate it, and it would make Luke so happy to open on Christmas morning. Thank you!
Mary can be reached at mary.feffer@gmail.com or 310-341-8592.
Postscript: Mary wrote a few days: “I just wanted to reach back out to you and let you know that thanks to your post, I was able to get the green anole stuffed animal which arrived in the mail today! It is perfect, and I know Luke is going to love it on Christmas. Thank you so much again for your help!”
Luke’s birthday iguana bash
Success!
Thanks to all who submitted photos for the Anole Annals calendar contest–we received lots of great submissions! We’ve narrowed it down to the top 32, and now it’s time for you to vote! Here’s a slideshow of the finalists:
Choose your 6 favorites in the poll below by checking the box next to your picks– you can right-click on the thumbnail to view full-size images in the poll. You have just over a week to vote – the poll closes on 11/23/22 (a Wednesday) at 11:59pm. Spread the word!
The deadline for the Anole Annals photo contest is quickly approaching! This Anolis equestris would like to remind you to submit your photos by Tuesday, November 1! Photo credit Ianaré Sévi, Wikimedia Commons.
Reminder! We’re rapidly approaching submission deadline for the annual Anole Annals photo contest! We’ve already received some superb submissions, and can’t wait to see those that will roll in by the deadline– this coming Tuesday, November 1, 2022! Get those photos in!
See below text for submission instructions, and the original announcement.
Submit your photos (as many as you’d like) as email attachments to anoleannalsphotos@gmail.com. To make sure that your submissions arrive, please send an accompanying email without any attachments to confirm that we’ve received them. Photos must be at least 150 dpi and print to a size of 11 x 17 inches. If you are unsure how to resize your images, the simplest thing to do is to submit the raw image files produced by your digital camera (or if you must, a high quality scan of a printed image). If you elect to alter your own images, don’t forget that it’s always better to resize than to resample. Images with watermarks or other digital alterations that extend beyond color correction, sharpening and other basic editing will not be accepted. We are not going to deal with formal copyright law and ask only your permission to use your image for the calendar and related content on Anole Annals (more specifically, by submitting your photos, you are agreeing to allow us to use them in the calendar). We, in turn, agree that your images will never be used without attribution and that we will not profit financially from their use (the small amount of royalties we receive are used to purchase calendars for the winners). Please only submit photos you’ve taken yourself, not from other photographers–by submitting photos, you are declaring that you are the photographer and have the authority to allow the photograph to be used in the calendar if it is chosen.
Please provide a short description of the photo that includes: (1) the species name, (2) the location where the photo was taken, and (3) any other relevant information. Be sure to include your full name in your email as well. Deadline for submission is November 1, 2022.
Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your photos!
This hungry Anolis carolinensis is here to remind the AA readership that the photo contest submission deadline is approximately two weeks away! Get ’em in! Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Reminder–we’re just about two weeks away from the submission for deadline for the annual Anole Annals photo contest! We’ve already received some superb submissions, and can’t wait to see those that will roll in by the deadline, November 1, 2022!
See below text for submission instructions, and the original announcement.
Submit your photos (as many as you’d like) as email attachments to anoleannalsphotos@gmail.com. To make sure that your submissions arrive, please send an accompanying email without any attachments to confirm that we’ve received them. Photos must be at least 150 dpi and print to a size of 11 x 17 inches. If you are unsure how to resize your images, the simplest thing to do is to submit the raw image files produced by your digital camera (or if you must, a high quality scan of a printed image). If you elect to alter your own images, don’t forget that it’s always better to resize than to resample. Images with watermarks or other digital alterations that extend beyond color correction, sharpening and other basic editing will not be accepted. We are not going to deal with formal copyright law and ask only your permission to use your image for the calendar and related content on Anole Annals (more specifically, by submitting your photos, you are agreeing to allow us to use them in the calendar). We, in turn, agree that your images will never be used without attribution and that we will not profit financially from their use (the small amount of royalties we receive are used to purchase calendars for the winners). Please only submit photos you’ve taken yourself, not from other photographers–by submitting photos, you are declaring that you are the photographer and have the authority to allow the photograph to be used in the calendar if it is chosen.
Please provide a short description of the photo that includes: (1) the species name, (2) the location where the photo was taken, and (3) any other relevant information. Be sure to include your full name in your email as well. Deadline for submission is November 1, 2022.
Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your photos!
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