Anolis michaeljordani

Anole displays can get pretty intense.  My favorite feature of a really vigorous display is the lingual extension, a move that reminds me of Michael Jordan driving the lane for a dunk.  Although I’ve illustrated this phenomenon with a photo of Anolis distichus, I’ve seen many species of anoles using this move during really intense displays.  I’ll try to post more photos in the coming weeks.

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4 Comments

  1. Jonathan Losos

    The classic–and only–work on this is Schwenk and Mayer’s contribution to Anolis Newsletter IV. They point out that there are two ways this is done. Sticking out, as above, or bunched up at the front of the mouth.

  2. rglor

    I completely forgot about that paper. For those interested, it is freely available as a pdf document. If you check later today we may even have an updated OCR version available.

    Perhaps we should ask Schwenk and Meyer for an update; they end their note with a call for additional unpublished observations on tongue displays in Anolis.

  3. yestuart

    Does anyone know why Wizards and Sixers are mirror-imaged? Who doctored the photo?

  4. rglor

    I reflected the image so that Jordan’s profile would match the lizard’s.

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