Author: Jonathan Losos Page 108 of 130

Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.

Chromosome Evolution in Anoles: A Study Waiting to Happen

Anole karyotypes from Gorman and Atkins, Herpetologica, 1968.

George Gorman, who pioneered the use of molecular tools to study anole phylogenetics from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s, asks:

“Why not examine karyotypes of Dactyloa?”

He says:

“In the 1960’s and ‘70’s, before the DNA revolution,  the systematic examination of karyotypes of reptilian taxa mushroomed, and, to some extent helped orient our thinking about relationships among various clades.  This was certainly the case within Anolis at various hierarchical levels,  from species determination to definition of distinct species groups.  To my knowledge, there has been very little added to our knowledge about karyotypes of mainland Anolis that Etheridge placed in the latifrons series of Alpha Anolis,  now frequently referred to as the Dactyloa clade.  (if these are long-lost terms, Etheridge’s Beta anoles are the Norops section; all other lineages are within his “Alpha” section).

Background

There is a very pervasive, either primitive or convergently arrived at, karyotype among the Sauria…consisting of 12 metacentric macrochromosomes, and 24 microchromosomes. This karyotype may be found in many families and in all species of many genera within families. This was also the known published karyotype of A. carolinensis….the only anole that had been examined until about 1965.

Here’s a brief summary of what followed:

Happy Anole New Year

Better late than never.

Winter Anoles: Thermoregulating in the Cold

Braving the elements in Charleson.

We all think of anoles as warm weather, tropical beasties, but of course, that’s not entirely the case. Many live at quite high elevations and are active at cool temperatures. For example, this past summer we saw A. orcesi active (as active as it gets) when temperatures were 20 C and below.

In addition, anoles get relatively far north into temperate areas of the United States. One might think that they’d just go to sleep in the winter and not come back out til the spring warmth, but that’s not the case. Faithful contributor Marc Tollis discusses one recent observation over on his own blog, Anolis Tollis.

Anolis cristatellus, and Life’s Unexpected Twists and Turns

Read all about it here.

Posthumous Co-Authorship: What Are the Rules?

In a recent AA exchange, it was noted that Ernest Williams’ last publication appeared 11 years after his death. Anthony Geneva wondered “how far one could take posthumous co-authorship. What’s stopping me from including Darwin as a co-author on my next manuscript?”

Indeed, just what are the rules? Are you comfortable with the idea that a paper may be published in the future and the deceased you listed as a co-author, without the opportunity to agree to be a coauthor, much less comment on or contribute to its content? What’s to keep someone just from tacking on the names of prominent figures in a bid to make a paper more publishable or to gain more attention?

In this case, the paper, Poe et al. (2009), made clear their rationale:

Anolis: 380 Species And Counting

 

Top row, left: A. magnaphallus; Top row, right: A. tropidolepis; 2nd row and 3rd row, left: A. pachypus; 3rd row, right and 4th row: new species, A. benedikti; bottom row: A. pseudopachypus.

Peter Uetz recently pointed us to the Reptile Data Base with a list of all anole species, which appears to be at 378, not including the recently described A. tenorioensis. Make that 380.

The Anolis pachypus complex, a group of high elevation, mid-Central American anoles, has been growing in recent years, with the separate descriptions of A. magnaphallus and A. pseudopachypus both in 2007. Now another species has been recognized, named A. benedikti. Unlike other recent cases in which widespread Central American anoles have been broken into multiple species (e.g., A. tenorioensis), the A. pachypus group is not distinguished by differences in hemipenial shape. By contrast, these species are told apart the good ol’-fashioned way, by differences in dewlap color, as illustrated above.

Anolis benedikti is a cloud fores species found in the Talamancan highlands of eastern Costa Rica and extreme western Panama, predominatly on the Caribbean versant.

2011: The Anole Year in Review

As 2011 winds down, it’s time to look back and recall what made this such a wonderful anole year. With this in mind, Anole Annals presents in 2011 Top 5 List:

#5: The Dominican Republic:

Lots of good research and data came out of the D.R. this year, including landmark studies on the green anoles, the A. distichus complex and anole malaria, not to mention many successful field trips and spectacular photos.

#4: Evolutionary Relationships of the Giant Mainland Anoles

Anolis princeps, a large member of the Dactyloa clade. Photo by Jonathan Losos

The phylogeny of the Dactyloa clade of primarily South American anole species, including the largest continental anoles, has long defied resolution. But no longer. In a beautifully worked out integration of morphological and molecular, Castañeda and de Queiroz provided a well-resolved evolutionary tree, which revealed many unexpected insights into the biogeography and evolution of these fabulous species.

#3: New Species

Anole Annals: Vote for the Year’s Best Posts

As is customary at year’s end, Anole Annals looks back on a banner year. 396 posts (and counting); 111,432 page loads; 64,843 visits. And what better time to reminisce about our finest moments? So, let’s vote for Post of the Year. Below are the six most viewed posts. Vote for one, or suggest your own in the Comments section.

A Highly Anecdotal Account of a Most Remarkable Anole

Dead for a Day – Long Live the Lizard Man, Eric Pianka

How the Green Anole Was Selected To Be The First Reptile Genome Sequenced

Is An Anole Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?

Society for the Study of Evolution Announces Changes to the Name of Its Journal

Yuck! Maggots in the Mouth

2012 Anole Calendar–1/2 Price Today!

Anole Annals is proud to bring you its newly produced 2012 calendar. Featuring photographs of 13 different anole species taken by world-renowned wildlife photographers and biologists, the calendar is the perfect holiday gift. Moreover, today happens to be 1/2 price Calendar Monday, so order immediately!

Gates Foundation Announces New Initiative to Eradicate Lizard Malaria

From Falk et al., 2011.

The Gates Foundation today announced a multi-billion dollar initiative to eradicate malaria from all lizardkind. Through a combination of heightened prophylactic use, development of genetically modified lacertilians, and enhanced mosquitivory, the Foundation hopes to eliminate this scourge, which afflicts millions of saurians throughout the world.

Well, maybe some day. But a recent paper on Anolis malaria set my mind a-wandering. Most people, likely the Gates Foundation included, are unaware that malaria is a disease not just of humans, but of many other species as well, including lizards. When I first learned that lizards got malaria, I thought it was just a curiosity, not of particular importance. However, I’ve come to realize that I was very wrong in a number of respects.

First, malaria in some cases can have substantial physiological effects on lizards (though this has yet to be demonstrated in anoles).

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