SICB 2017: Adult Anoles Influence Perch Orientation Of Juveniles

Hello from unexpectedly cold New Orleans! Our coverage of SICB 2017 continues and we hope you will enjoy the increased posting over the next few days.

On Friday, David Delaney presented more data from his Master’s thesis from Dan Warner’s lab further exploring how adult and juvenile A. sagrei interact. Previously David showed that the presence of adults did not affect microhabitat use, but that high densities of adult males decreased survival in juveniles, especially in smaller lizards.

This year David presented intriguing data suggesting that the presence of adult males influenced how juveniles sat on their perches. He found that the presence of adult males alter both horizontal and vertical orientation of juveniles. When one male is present, juveniles increase horizontal orientation over time, but if three males are present, juveniles face upwards more than when no or only one male is present. Additionally, they also face the trunk of the tree more than away from the tree when they are horizontal and adults are present. Because of the chance of juvenile saurophagy, David suggests this helps juveniles to monitor where the adult males are to prevent being eaten.

Check back often to read about more great research being presented at SICB 2017!

Chris Robinson

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1 Comment

  1. Thanks for the write-up, Chris!

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