Author: Jonathan Losos Page 58 of 130

Anolis pentaprion taxiing down the runway on a canopy tower at the La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Photo by Vinicio Paniagua.

Draco, the flying dragon, has borrowed an anole dewlap, so it’s only proper that anoles return the favor by developing gliding capabilities. It’s been long rumored that Anolis pentaprion, a twig anole from Central America, will launch itself off of perches in canopy and glide away, but now Steve Overbauer, Vinicio Paniagua, Craig Guyer and Mo Donnelly have documented just that in an interesting herpetological natural history note that appeared in the last issue of last year’s volume of Herp Review (Vol. 44, pp. 677-678).  Here’s what they have to say:

“Lizards with gliding or directed aerial descent behaviors are well known from the Old World Tropics (e.g., Draco, Ptychozoon), and snakes and frogs exhibiting these behaviors are found both in the Old and New World Tropics (Dudley et al. 2007. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 38:179–201). However, lizards showing directed aerial descent have not been reported from the New World Tropics. Here we report on directed aerial descent capability and behavior in Norops pentaprion, a canopy lizard from eastern Costa Rica, southern Nicaragua, and western Panama (Köhler 2010. Zootaxa 2354:1–18).

The initial discovery of this behavior in N. pentaprion was serendipitous in July 2001 when an individual was captured on a walk-up meteorological tower at canopy level (~ 25 m) at La Selva Biological Station in the Atlantic lowlands of Costa Rica. After identification, the animal was returned to the original location on the tower, but upon release to a horizontal tower brace, it executed a controlled aerial descent to a tree in the distance below. Individuals of N. pentaprion have been occasionally observed on our meteorological towers subsequent to our first observation of directed aerial descent. The lizards are typically at canopy level but are sometimes found well above the canopy on the highest levels of the towers (up to 42 m). While the typical response of N. pentaprion to the presence of personnel on the tower is to race down the tower or hide on the opposite side of vertical supports, the animals will occasionally jump from the tower to escape when approached. Since 2001 we have observed directed aerial descent by N. pentaprion from canopy towers on several occasions. In at least two instances the lizard landed at lower levels on the tower, but in other occurrences they covered substantial distance to adjacent trees including aerial rotations of near 180º. During more than one observation, animals appeared to glide with near-horizontal trajectories towards termination of the descent. Similar to some snakes, frogs, lizards, and ants showing directed aerial descent, N. pentaprion does not have strongly specialized features associated with gliding behavior such as skin flaps, skin extensions, or webbed feet. Norops pentaprion has a relatively flattened head and wide body. During aerial descent this lizard proceeds headfirst, with limbs partially extended and the body strongly flattened, a position that may take advantage of regions of relatively loose skin along the sides of the body (Guyer and Donnelly 2005. Amphibians and Reptiles of La Selva, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean Slope, Univ. California Press, Berkeley, California. 299 pp.).

At La Selva Biological Station this species is uncommon in the understory and is usually found on trees limbs. Norops pentaprion is a member of a closely-related group of anoline lizards subjected to a recent analysis of morphology and morphometrics (Köhler, op. cit.); these related taxa share similar body size characteristics with N. pentaprion and are frequently arboreal. Future observations of some of these species may result in the discovery of similar directed-aerial descent behavior. Canopy pioneer Donald Perry reported lizards with a rose dewlap parachuting between trees in the canopy in Costa Rican forests (Perry 1986. Life Above the Jungle Floor, Simon and Schuster, Inc. New York, New York. 170 pp.), but the species was not identified. In their description of Norops pentaprion, Guyer and Donnelly (op. cit.) indicated that parachuting behavior likely occurs in this species on the basis of our initial observations and those of Perry. Our repeated observations verify directed aerial descent in this species and confirm that the lizard observed by Perry was N. pentaprion, the only lizard in the region with magenta dewlap coloration.”

Note the arm waving and tongue protrusion!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP3rnPQJT6A

Thinking of setting up a room to maintain and breed lizards for research projects? Back in 2011, the good folks in the Glor Lab–which has done a stupendous job at breeding A. distichus–shared their accumulated knowledge in an 11-part series. Given the fog of memory, it seemed like a good time to remind the world of the existence of this primer, and put the links all together in one place.

So, with no further ado, here are the 11 posts in the “Evolution of a Lizard Room” undecology:

1: Introduction

2: Maintaining humidity

3: The watering wand

4: Crickets

5: The Shopvac

6: Generating food in house

7: Egg-laying

8: Egg inculation

9: Toe clipping

10: Custom cages for breeding experiments

11: Butterfly Cages

For another source of information, check-out the manual put together by the Brodie Lab at the University of Virginia.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyGO_rcVEM0

We’ve had previous posts [1,2] on research on anoles of these islands. Nice footage of ctenosaurs and boas as well.

What better way to celebrate moving your clock forward than getting that anole watch–available in five ecomorphs–that you’ve been coveting. Pop on over to Zazzle.com now, and don’t delay, because the deal ends at 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Use code word sundaydeal22.

A while back, we reported on a monograph Hedges and Conn that described an enormous number of new skink species (35) from the Caribbean. Now efforts are being made to prevent some of these species from going extinct. The Center for Biological Diversity has just filed a petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asking that nine Caribbean skink species be placed on the Endangered Species List. Those species are: Culebra Skink (Spondylurus culebrae), Mona Skink (Spondylurus monae), Monito Skink (Spondylurus monitae), Lesser Virgin Islands Skink (Spondylurus semitaeniatus), Virgin Islands Bronze Skink (Spondylurus sloanii), Puerto Rican Skink (Spondylurus nitidus), Greater Saint Croix Skink (Spondylurus magnacruzae), Greater Virgin Islands Skink (Spondylurus spilonotus) and Lesser Saint Croix Skink (Capitellum parvicruzae).

A press release from the CBD explains all:

“The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal petition today seeking Endangered Species Act protection for nine newly identified species of skinks found only in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. These rare lizards with smooth skins are on the knife’s edge of extinction due to introduced predators and habitat destruction. Reptiles around the globe are in the midst of an extinction crisis with roughly 1 in 5 species considered endangered or at risk of disappearing.

Puerto Rican skink photo © Puerto Rico Wildlife/Alfredo Colón (alfredocolon.zenfolio.com). Photos and maps are available for media use.

“Time is running out for these lizards,” said Collette Adkins Giese, a Center biologist and lawyer focused on protecting reptiles and amphibians. “The Caribbean is home to extremely rare animals found nowhere else in the world, but too many have already gone extinct. To save these skinks, we need to get them protected under the Endangered Species Act.”

Scientists recently recognized the nine petitioned skinks, along with dozens of others on Caribbean islands. The scientists initiated their study after finding unusually large genetic differences among populations of these skinks on different islands in the Caribbean. All of the newly identified endemic Caribbean skinks are near extinction (or already extinct) due to introduced predators like mongooses and cats, as well as large-scale habitat destruction for development and agriculture.

This loss is alarming because reptiles play important roles as predators and prey in their ecosystems and they’re valuable indicators of environmental health. The animals in today’s petition will reap life-saving benefits from the Endangered Species Act, which has a 99 percent success rate at staving off extinction for species under its care.

“Skinks have a slow-moving curiosity and are not adapted to fast predators such as the mongoose, introduced by humans,” said Dr. Blair Hedges of Pennsylvania State University, the lead author of the 2012 study that recognized the petitioned species. “The survival of these skinks depends on the special measures of protection that only the Endangered Species Act can provide.”

Although reptiles have been around for hundreds of millions of years and survived every major extinction period, now, due largely to human impacts, they’re dying off at up to 10,000 times the historic extinction rate. About 20 percent of reptiles in the world are endangered or vulnerable to extinction. Within the Caribbean, scientists estimate that reptiles have levels of endangerment that are at or near the highest levels worldwide.

The Center was joined in its petition for these nine skinks by Dr. Renata Platenberg, an ecologist specializing in Caribbean reptiles.

Background
The petitioned-for Caribbean skinks, which can grow to be about 8 inches long, are unique among reptiles in having reproductive systems most like humans, including a placenta and live birth. They have cylindrical bodies, and most have ill-defined necks that, together with their sinuous movements and smooth, bronze-colored skin, make them look like stubby snakes.

Four of the species for which we petitioned are found within the territory of Puerto Rico: the Culebra skink (Culebra and the adjacent islet of Culebrita), Mona skink (Mona Island), Monito skink (Monito Island) and Puerto Rican skink (Puerto Rico and several of its satellite islands). The remaining five are found in the Virgin Islands: the Greater St. Croix skink (St. Croix and its satellite Green Cay), Lesser St. Croix skink (St. Croix), Greater Virgin Islands skink (St. John and St. Thomas), Lesser Virgin Islands skinks (St. Thomas and two adjacent islets, several British Virgin Islands) and Virgin Islands bronze skink (St. Thomas and several of its islets, several British Virgin Islands).

Eight of the nine petitioned-for species fall within the genus Spondylurus, and one falls within the genus Capitellum. The genus Spondylurusincludes what are now known as the Antillean four-lined skinks because of the four major dark stripes on their back and sides. Skinks in the genus Capitellum are called the Antillean small-headed skinks and have small feet and short heads, lacking dark dorsolateral stripes.”

The entire petition can be downloaded from the CBD’s website.

While on the theme of Ecuador from yesterday’s post on 25 newly described Ecuadorian herps…Word has just reached AA‘s ears that the fabulous Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo is now available in the U.S. You can order it from Eagle Mountain Publishing, which also sells a lot of great old reptile and amphibian books at rock bottom prices.

In celebration of this great event, we’re re-printing the review posted a few months ago:

The team at Tropical Herping has done it again! This time, a fabulous, lavish, luscious, information-packed guide to the spectacular herpetofauna of Mindo Parish, Ecuador. Originally available online, the book is now available in print. I had the privilege of writing the foreword, appended below. More information is available on the TH website, as well as an order form.

Foreword:

Small in size, but a global giant in biodiversity, Ecuador is awash in all manner of fauna and flora. Birds, butterflies, trees—the country is a hotspot for just about everything. But no group of organisms is more beautiful, more charismatic, more scientifically captivating than Ecuador’s reptiles and amphibians. The Amazon rainforest dominates the attention of the public, but other parts of the country, especially the mountainous regions, are just as biologically rich. One such area is the small parish of Mindo in Pichincha Province, home to 102 species of creepy crawlies. And what an ensemble! Brilliant colors, toxic skin and venom, sweet serenades, menacing looks, gorgeous displays—this region is an encyclopedia of herpetology in just 268 square kilometers.

Field guides play an essential role in making the fauna and flora of an area widely accessible. They are at the front line of nature education and conservation, the place where the fruits of scientific exploration are distilled, synthesized, packaged, and presented to the public at large. Since the time of Roger Tory Peterson, field guides have played another role, being a venue for beautiful, yet accurate, scientific illustration, allowing readers to not only understand the identifying marks of each species, but also to appreciate them esthetically.

Despite its bountiful herpetofauna, until now no field guides existed for Ecuador’s amphibians and Reptiles. The Tropical Herping team has brilliantly stepped into this void, producing a guide to the herps of Mindo that hopefully will serve both as a model of how guides should be produced and an inspiration to the production of similar efforts elsewhere in Ecuador and beyond. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo is particularly notable in three respects. First is the breadth and depth of information provided for each of Mindo’s species. These authors know their fauna in exquisite detail and have synthesized that knowledge in a clear and lucid manner. The inclusion of frog calls, recorded by the authors themselves, is an added bonus bridging the paper and digital eras. Second, the public often does not understand the connection between scientific research and the information presented in field guides, magazine articles and nature documentaries. Unlike most field guides, The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo makes this link crystal clear, providing citations so that readers know where to turn to learn more. Indeed, especially impressive is the fact that the authors did a great deal of field work themselves to round out knowledge of these species, presenting that information for the first time here. Finally, third, the book is simply beautiful. The photographs are simply stunning and the maps and other illustrations lovely as well.

The publication of The Amphibians and Reptiles of Mindo could not come at a better time. The Mindo region is a microcosm for all that ails the natural world. Deforestation, habitat fragmentation, pollution, overharvesting—all are threats. Mindo has one thing going for in its favor—it has become a nature vacation travel destination, providing jobs and economic rationale for preserving natural habitats. But, ecotourism can be a two-edged sword, as people and development are drawn to the area with potentially negative consequences. Mindo has the opportunity to show how responsible stewardship can be mutually beneficial to man and nature, and this lovely book shows what is at stake. Three cheers for the three authors of this magnificent volume. Long live the herpetofauna of Mindo!

The Green Anole is the quarterly children’s newsletter written for EcoExplorer members of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.