Year: 2012 Page 27 of 47

The Anolis carolinensis observed in Chiayi County, Taiwan, on the trunk of an Areca catechu.

Currently, the list of exotic invasive herpetofauna in Taiwan is fairly short:

brown anole (Anolis sagrei)

sun skink (Eutropis multifasciata)

common slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)

American bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana)

Asiatic painted frog (Kaloula pulchra pulchra)

Hong Kong whipping frog (Polypedates megacephalus)

But if the list of species permitted in the pet trade in Taiwan is not revised, and drastic steps are not taken to prevent future accidental and/or intentional introductions of exotic invasive amphibians and reptiles, that is sure to change.

There are already anecdotal accounts of green iguanas (Iguana iguana) and water dragons (Physignathus lesueurii) in the wild, and in 2011 we reported on some tokay geckoes (Gekko gecko) that we found in the wild in central western Taiwan. Earlier this year when we reported on a green anole (Anolis carolinensis) that we found in 2002 in a rural area of Chiayi County, southwestern Taiwan, we added another species to the list of species that have been recorded in the wild.

The discovery of these lizards in the wild in Taiwan is alarming. If suitable numbers of these animals are released into the wild, they very likely will establish viable populations in Taiwan.

Lizard Versus Bobcat

By Rich Glor

On June 12, 2012

In Natural History Observations

This video doesn’t involve anoles, but contains some of the coolest lizard footage I’ve seen for a while. You may have seen video of horned lizards (Phrynosoma) squirting blood from their eyes to deter predation by dogs, but this seems to be the first video of them using the same strategy on a bobcat. Perhaps not surprisingly, Wade Sherbrooke is responsible for setting this up for National Geographic.

The Gray-Dewlapped Anole: Anolis Carolinensis Seminolus

By Jonathan Losos

On June 11, 2012

In Classics from the Literature

Head variation in Anolis carolinensis. From T. Vance (1991).

There was some talk a while back about the fabled gray-dewlapped anole of Florida (and, according to the comments, elsewhere). Amidst this discussion, one commenter referred to it as Anolis carolinensis seminolus. Many of us, even experienced anole hands, were unaware that A. carolinensis had subspecies. After a little bit of poking around, we’ve discovered the answer. Indeed, there are described subspecies. Thomas Vance, in a paper in the Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society in 1991 described the gray-dewlapped form as A. c. seminolus, relegating the rest of the species to A. c. carolinensis. The paper, which can be downloaded here, is not as overwhelming as its 47-page length might imply. There’s a nice discussion of the history of the species name A. carolinensis (turns out that it’s quite a confusing trail of names), followed by a detailed comparison of morphological variation, focusing primarily on scale characters and based on the examination of nearly a thousand specimens. There’s a lot of molecular phylogeographic work on carolinensis in the works right now, and it’ll be interesting to see how the genetic data square with Vance’s taxonomy (my guess: not so well). More generally, it’s surprising how little work on variation in this species has been conducted. For anyone interested in this fascinating and underappreciated lizard, this paper is worth a look.

Name That Anole, French-Style

By Jonathan Losos

On June 10, 2012

In All Posts

Anoland has a name-that-anole quiz. Here are the instructions, translated from French by an internet website: “Salvation to all, this is a new quiz. For each species a photo of the male as well as of the female (interesting to see the fanon and the difference of the latter as a function of sex) some very simple, others quite harsh.”

Snail Crunching Anoles

By Jonathan Losos

On June 9, 2012

In Natural History Observations

Photos by Veronika Holanova

Veronika Holáňová of Charles University in Prague not only studies anoles, but she breeds them in great quantities, including these wonderful Chamaeleolis. The “false chameleons” as they are called are renowned for specializing on eating snails as adults, and here are some of Veronika’s photos of them in the act.

Anole – Skink Interaction In Taiwan

By Jonathan Losos

On June 8, 2012

In New Research

The elegant skink, Plestiodon elegans, in Taiwan. Photo by Gerrut Norval

Most community ecology studies involving anoles focus on interactions between anole species. This is not surprising, because in the Caribbean, anoles are extraordinarily abundant and most of their ecological interactions are, indeed, with other anoles. Less studied are interactions with other taxa, the exception being predator-prey interactions, such as those with curly-tailed lizards (discussed many times in these pages, most recently here).

One widespread group of lizards are skinks, the most species rich family of lizards. There are few reports of anole-skink interactions, probably in large part due to the fact that skink diversity in the Caribbean is relatively low, and many species have been extirpated by human agents. However, anoles have been introduced to places around the world where skinks are more abundant, and some reports of interactions have been made. For example, in the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, A. carolinensis has reached high population densities and has been implicated in the decline of the native skink.

Gerrut Norval has been studying the introduced populations of A. sagrei in Taiwan. He now reports an observation of a somewhat odd interaction between a brown anole and a skink in which the anole fell to the ground from a utility pole and then was quickly chased back up the pole by an elegant skink, Plesiodon elegans. Given the relative size of the two lizards, attempted predation was probably not the cause. Gerrut speculates that this is an example of interspecific territoriality, transcending lizard family lines.

In Taiwan, A. sagrei reaches high population densities (as it does just about everywhere it occurs)–possibly cause for alarm for the native herpetofauna. Norval also mentions some intriguing preliminary observations: A. sagrei seems to attain smaller sizes at sites where it co-occurs with other lizard species. Interesting! Hopefully, we’ll hear more from Gerrut soon on this provocative possibility.

News Flash: Cabela’s 10′ Panfish Poles Out Of Stock Again

By Jonathan Losos

On June 7, 2012

In Research Methods

Says Cabela’s: “the merchandise is out of stock and we will not be getting it in till the spring of next year.”

What is up with these guys? Has every reader of Anole Annals recently ordered 100?

The Galapagos And New Guinea Have Anole Envy

By Jonathan Losos

On June 7, 2012

In All Posts

How else can you explain the fact that no one from either place has ever successfully logged onto Anole Annals? Surely, the populace there has tried, so clearly the governments are blocking us. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out the Map App on the right side of the page, which shows every location where someone has logged in (and don’t miss the real time rotating globe version–click on the “3D” link at the top of the page!).

It’s a pretty impressive map. Basically, just about the whole world has logged in. Regularly from the Gulf of Guinea. India, the Middle East, the far North, the Azores, Iceland, four different Hawaiian islands. You name it. Except New Guinea and the Galapagos. Even Madagascar logged on for the first time two days ago (I think they knew they were about to be singled-out). So I implore you, dear AA readers. Get on a plane, fly to those places, and log on. Please.

Battle of the Diurnal, Arboreal Exotics in Florida (the Anole Loses)

By Rich Glor

On June 6, 2012

In Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

Herpetological Review has yet to make its content available on-line, so this is a cell phone camera image of the figure from the Krysko et al. report. (The original image was also taken with a cell phone, making this perhaps the first cell phone photo of a cell phone photo to appear on Anole Annals.)

Krysko et al. report in the March 2012 issue of Herpetological Review on a new element of Florida’s food-web: one species of diurnal, arboreal, and non-indigenous lizard eating another species of diurnal, arboreal, and non-indigenous lizard. Anole lovers will not be pleased to learn that this event involved a Madagascan day gecko (Phelsuma grandis) eating a bark anole (A. distichus) on Ramrod Key in Florida. Krysko et al. note that this it he first report of a non-indigenous gecko consuming a non-indigenous anole. This interaction ups the ante on the gecko/anole dynamics in Florida and Hawaii that have been reported previously here on Anole Annals and elsewhere.

Editor’s Update: Here’s a non-cell phone version of the same, courtesy of Ken Krysko.

Photo by Kenney Krysko

Beware Of The Branches: The Impacts Of Habitat Structure On Locomotion And Path Choice

By Timothy Higham

On June 5, 2012

In New Research

Imagine running quickly among a network of obstacles while attempting to maximize performance. It’s not an easy task, but one that arboreal lizards perform every day. In addition to variable inclines and perch diameters, arboreal lizards often encounter obstacles in the form of branches. The size of these branches, and their spacing, could have a significant impact on locomotor performance, such as sprint speed. Using a clever experimental design, Zachary Jones and Bruce Jayne (University of Cincinnati) recently determined how these important characteristics impact running performance in Anolis sagrei, A. carolinensis, and A. angusticeps (Click here to read paper from the Journal of Experimental Biology).

(A) Dorsal view silhouettes of the three Anolis study species compared against the diameter of the running surfaces. The lizards and cross-sectional areas of the running surfaces are all shown to the same scale. All running surfaces were cylindrical, but only one-half of the largest diameter is shown. (B) Schematic diagram of the peg treatments (not to same scale as the lizards). Pegs along the top center were placed at 10 cm (TC10) or 20 cm (TC20), horizontal pairs of pegs (HP) were placed every 10 cm, and alternating pairs of pegs (AP) oriented vertically or horizontally were placed every 10 cm along the length of the primary running surface (gray). The cylinder with no pegs (NP) is not shown.

Similar to previous studies, increases in perch diameter resulted in increased sprinting speed. With pegs added to the perch, things changed. When pegs were placed at 10cm intervals, and sticking directly up from the top of a 3cm-diameter perch, running performance of A. sagrei was sliced in half compared to running on a peg-free perch or a perch with pegs sticking out from the sides. Especially for the smaller perch diameter treatments, the number of pauses increased with increased branching, and this was greatest when the pegs came out from the top of the perch. This increase in pausing results in a decrease in overall speed (increased transit time) as they move through their habitat. This is also a result found by Higham et al. (2001), where turning angles in the locomotor path resulted in increased pausing in Anolis lizards. The take home message is that branching can have a negative impact on locomotion, forcing lizards to take longer getting from point A to point B. This could make them vulnerable to predation or reduce their ability to effectively capture prey.
Luckily, the array of pathways in an arboreal habitat provides an opportunity for Anolis lizards to select what works best for them.