An anole toepad imaged with a scanning electron microscope.

In the endless comparison between the adhesive systems of geckos and anoles, today we learned a bit more about anole toe pads. University of Akron grad student Austin Garner, from the Peter Niewiarowski and Ali Dhinojwala labs, presented a poster on setal morphology across the toe of Anolis (Deiroptyx) equestris or the Cuban Knight anole. Like a lot of studies on toe pads, the inspiration for this work can be traced back to a previous study by Tony Russell (Johnson and Russell. 2009. Journal of Anatomy). In their 2009 study, Johnson and Russell found that the more distal lamellae of Rhoptropus geckos were more narrow and that their distal setae were longer, lower in diameter, and more densely packed within and across lamellae. This study came to shape our knowledge of within-toe gecko setal morphology.

Today Garner presented preliminary data evaluating the same patterns in an anole. Although their numbers are very preliminary (N=2), it suggests some interesting deviations from Rhoptropus. The more distal lamellae of equestris are narrower, similar to Rhoptropus. Distal setae are also more densely packed, but setae seem to be the longest and have the widest diameter in the middle of the lamellae, and in the middle of the toe, which is very different than what was observed in Rhoptropus. 

If this pattern holds as Garner et al. increase their sample size, it will have interesting implications for how we think about toe detachment in geckos and anoles and well as how the two groups navigate rough and smooth surfaces. I am really excited to see what patterns emerge from the study and so stay tuned to see how their results shake out!

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