Anolis brunneus male
Today marked the beginning of my search for Anolis brunneus, the Crooked Island anole. As I discussed in my last post, this species has several unique qualities including its relatively elongate face and permanently pale disposition. I am happy to report that this rarely observed species has been located in all its drab glory. Over the next ten days I hope to collect data on this species’ distribution, ecology, and behavior. I will kick these reports off with a brief background about the island.
Crooked Island is one of the “Out Islands” of the Bahamas, located in the far southeast corner of the island chain. The island is a mix of salt marshes, sea grape, mangrove, and scrub trees rarely reaching more than a few meters high. Despite this seemingly serene picture, the island has a history of failed agricultural efforts, the largest being cotton plantations around the turn of the 19th century which covered ~10% of the total land area. At the peak of the cotton boom the island maintained approximately 1200 inhabitants, primarily slaves, but this has dwindled to only 300 today and continues to fall. The island now appears as an odd mix of both 19th and 20th century ruins that range from abandoned plantation homes to hurricane battered wood frames, many of which have been overtaken by the forests. Except for a few hotels that cater to bonefishermen, the island has virtually no tourism. Crooked island is home to several other lizard species including abundant A. sagrei and Leiocephalus, but more on this in a later post.
I am optimistic that we will come away from this field trip with substantial new data on this species. The one trick, we need to find them! Because of their pale color I have found them extremely difficult to find and track in the trees. Stay tuned!
- Short Faces, Two Faces, No Faces: Lizards Heads Are Susceptible to Embryonic Thermal Stress - December 15, 2021
- The Super Sticky Super Power of Lizards: a New Outreach Activity for Grade-Schoolers - April 9, 2018
- Updates on the Development of Anolis as a “Model Clade” of Integrative Analyses of Anatomical Evolution - September 4, 2017
Wes Chun
Thanks for the interesting photos!
Pat Shipman
I didn’t realize there was another anolis with such a long nose! I wonder what common conditions they & A. maynardi are adapted to? Or if it all happened twice?
Natalie Jacewicz
What a title!!!
Rich Glor
Good luck with the hunt!