Somebody needs to work on their anole species identification skills.
Breeding season is heating up for anoles in Miami, and at least one male crested anole (A. cristatellus) is a little…confused. While collecting some baseline data for my post-doc work looking at impacts of artificial light at night (ALAN) on brown and crested anoles, I noticed a commotion on a nearby cycad. Upon closer inspection, I realized that a male crested anole was pursuing and subsequently mating with a female brown anole (A. sagrei) who was decidedly unhappy about the situation.
In case you’re wondering about the colorful jewelry at the base of their tails, both of the anoles in the photo/video are bead-tagged to allow me to reidentify them from a distance. The copulation here lasted 3-4 minutes a portion of which I managed to capture on video.
While previous reports on AA have documented coupling between A. carolinensis and A. sagrei, I haven’t seen any reports of interspecific mating between A. cristatellus and A. sagrei. Has anyone else observed this phenomenon? The two species do encounter each other quite frequently in the Miami area, so this might not be a rare occurrence. Hybridization seems unlikely given the divergence between these two species, but you never know!
Ambika Kamath
Wow, I didn’t realise that male cristatellus have that bar-like stripe that we see so often in females! Cool capture.
George Gorman
She doesn’t seem to be any unhappier than in conspecific matings that I’ve observed. I am
Interested in prezygotic isolating mechanisms and hybridisation possibilities among introduced anoles. Will you be in Miami at the anole-extravaganza this week-end? Perhaps we could chat
Chris Thawley
I’ll be there, and should be a great chance to talk!
Neil Losin
Interesting! In all my time observing these two species, I can’t say I’ve ever seen this. Great observation.
Tylar Murray
Cool find Chris! Thanks for posting about it.
I’m no anole specialist but got curious about one hanging out in my window. Based on this Field Identification Guide For The Anole Lizards of Miami (http://www.jameststroud.com/uploads/2/6/1/3/26134722/kolbe_et_al_2014_-_field_identification_guide_for_the_anole_lizards_of_miami.pdf) I’m guessing he is a crested anole.
The following two observations visually look like they *could* be hybrids:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brown_anole_.jpg
2. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65945907
I’m curious to hear your thoughts on both.