Image from Twitter user @OomaTsuna (https://twitter.com/OomaTsuna)
Its clear that possessing a dewlap isn’t a trait unique to anole species. These often colorful, extendable flaps of skin beneath the throats of some female and most male anoles can also be found in other reptiles, and similar structures appear in some mammals and birds. I had always thought that dewlaps were a decidedly tetrapod (and terrestrial) trait. A series of tweets by John Friel, Ichthyologist and Director of the University of Alabama Natural History Museum has shown me just how wrong I was! Behold Triodon macropterus a pufferfish with a most striking dewlap. The thread starts with a retweet of a Japanese language account @OomaTsuna thats post stunning fish photos. Dr. Friel then provides some interesting biological details. This species extends their dewlap as part of their defense display (along with inflating their bodies like other pufferfish species). The flap is extended by a bony protrusion, but instead of deriving from their hyoid as in anoles and other lizards, it’s their pelvic bone that extends the leading edge of skin. See the full twitter thread for all the fishy dewlap detail.
- John David Curlis - March 1, 2022
- Joe Macedonia - January 31, 2022
- Lindsey Swierk - January 27, 2022
Jonathan Losos
Another anole wannabee!