Author: Jonathan Losos Page 82 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.

We’ve had a lot of hoohaw in these pages about amber Anolis, but anoles are not the only lizards represented in the Dominican amber fauna. In particular, a number of fine specimens of amber geckos are known from the D.R., as well as from amber deposits elsewhere. One such species is Sphaerodactylus dommeli. Embarrassing as it is to anole aficionados, this specimen has at times been suggested to be an anole, hard as it may seem to confuse such a lowly gecko with something as magnificent as an anole. In any case, Daza et al. have just published a magnificent analysis demonstrating that the specimen is, indeed, a gecko, and providing tips on how to avoid such unwholesome confusion in the future. Moreover, confirmation of the specimens identity will allow it to be used as a calibration point in future molecular studies of Sphaerodactylus phylogeny.

Snail Chomping Lizards

By Jonathan Losos

On January 9, 2013

In Natural History Observations

Although Anole Annals is devoted to all things anoline, we try not to be too parochial. In particular, when fascinating items appear in print or cyberspace on other lizards, we try to report them here, especially if they have some relevance to matters anole.

In this vein, we wish to draw attention to an interesting communique that just appeared in Tetzoo, a fascinating site dealing with a wide range of topics, and taxa, concerning tetrapod zoology. The article in question discussed snail-eating in the Australian pink-tongued skink (a rosy version of the blue-tongued variety) and the broad crushing teeth seemingly designed for such a purpose, teeth that are parallelled in a fossil marsupial.

Chamaeleolis teeth from Estes and Williams. Ontogenetic variation in the molariform teeth of lizards. J. Vert. Paleo. 4:96-107.

The relevance to anoles, of course, is that one of our very own, the Chamaeleolis clade, exhibits very much the same trait of snail crushing, as illustrated in a previous post.

Anole Dance Craze From The 1920s

By Jonathan Losos

On January 8, 2013

In Anole Art, Literature, and Humor

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt4wsmAdEk8

In the 1920’s, there was a dance as popular as the Charleston, but it was about anoles! Admittedly, it was called the “chameleon,” but clearly it was based on pictures of an anole, and you can evaluate the dance moves yourself to decide if they were more anole- or chameleon-like.

Apparently Luke Harmon, who brought this video to AA‘s attention, is an expert at many of the moves involved in the dance.

Ecuadorian Anole ID Needed

By Jonathan Losos

On January 5, 2013

In Anole Photographs

Photo by Brian Arbogast

Brian Arbogast sent these photos with a request for identification. I have my guesses, but I thought I’d throw it out to the experts. Here’s what Brian had to say: “They were taken in the lower cloud forest of Sumaco Volcano, on the eastern slope of the Andes in Ecuador at about 1700-1800m in elevation.”

Photo by Brian Arbogast

Color Catalogue For Field Biologists

By Jonathan Losos

On January 3, 2013

In Research Methods

Anole biologist Gunther Köhler has produced a handy manual, available from Herpeton publishers, to help describe colors of specimens, especially in field situations. The book’s introduction can explain better than I what it is used for and why it was written:

The accurate description of the coloration in life of organisms represents an important component of the work of any field biologist. Subtle differences in the coloration in life, such as in the color of the iris, the lining of the mouth cavity, or the tongue are diagnostic for certain species and have been used by taxonomists to differentiate among species.

Whereas many aspects of the external morphology of scientific specimens can be preserved with proper fixation methods, there is still no way to assure the long-term conservation of the coloration in life in such specimens. This is especially true for animals traditionally fixed with the help of formalin and ethanol, such as fishes, amphibians, and reptiles, and then stored as a wet collection. Colors such as red, yellow, and orange disappear rapidly once the specimen is placed in the preservative. Green-colored amphibians and reptiles can turn blue, lavender, purple, or black within a short time after preservation.

The Catalogue also provides definitions and examples of different phenotypic characteristics.

Of course, taking photographs of animals helps to document the coloration in life. Possible drawbacks to this technique are incorrectly adjusted white balances, which cause colors not to be reproduced accurately. Also, photographs often do not show coloration of hidden body parts. Therefore, biologists have a long tradition of recording colors by making written descriptions. Since individuals see colors differently and because it not easy to define, for example, different shades of brown or green in words, having a color standard helps to produce more objective and detailed descriptions that also have a greater chance of being reproducible. Such a reference can be used to compare descriptions made by different persons at different times and places. For decades, field biologists have utilized the “Naturalist’s Color Guide” by Frank B. Smithe (1975-1981) as the standard reference for color descriptions. However, for many years now, this important reference has been out of print and is no longer available.

I have used Smithe’s “Naturalist’s Color Guide” (called “Smithe Guide” from here on) extensively during the past 20 years, and my copy now clearly shows signs of this intensive usage under field conditions over the years. With no hope of being able to obtain a copy in good shape to replace my old one, I decided to produce a new reference to fill the gap left by the now unavailable Smithe Guide.

The resulting “Color Catalogue for Field Biologists” you are holding in your hand is not a duplicate of the Smithe Guide.

Anole Annals Viewership Triples In A Year: 300,000th Visit Impending

By Jonathan Losos

On January 2, 2013

In All Posts

Some time in the wee hours tonight or early tomorrow, the 300,000th visitor will traipse through Anole Annals. Not bad since we only reached 100,000 barely more than a year ago, on December 16, 2011, when some lunkhead from Valdosta, GA logged in. Who will claim this great honor? And when will it occur? You can keep track yourself by checking the stats counter at the bottom of the sidebar on the right side of the screen. And if you haven’t done so before, click on the world map just above it, to see in rotating 3-D where people are visiting AA right now.

Next AA milestone: our 1000th post, slated for later this winter. So far, in our two year and change history, we’ve had 919 posts by 87 contributors from 11 countries and five continents. Not to mention 3,356 comments.

18 Anole Talks At SICB Meetings Starting Tomorrow

By Jonathan Losos

On January 2, 2013

In All Posts

As Martha Muñoz reported two months ago, the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology meetings, beginning Thursday in San Francisco, will be awash with anole research. Check out the list of talks here, the full story in Martha’s post, and stay tuned for updates from ‘frisco.

Guide To Anoles Of Rio Palenque, Ecuador

By Jonathan Losos

On December 31, 2012

In All Posts

Recently we posted the Poe lab’s guide to the hyperdiverse anole community of El Cope, Panama, which harbors 12 anole species. Only slightly less diverse is the community of anoles at Rio Palenque, Ecuador, which has 11 species, and the Poe team has put together a guide for this locality as well. A small version appears below, and the full size pdf can be accessed here.

Anoles In The Twitterosphere

By Jonathan Losos

On December 29, 2012

In All Posts

Just found this on Twitter. http://t.co/tHk3ZQBN

People often stop me on the street to ask “how do you come up with so many great topics to post on?” The answer I give is one simple word: “Twitter.” If you want to stay on top of the anole world, there’s no better way than to see what Anole Nation is tweeting. Try it yourself and you’ll see that most new anole papers get mentioned, as well as news of all sorts, and all kinds of great photos and other anolillenea.

And other great stuff, too, like this great curse: “I hope you accidentally swallow an anole and choke on it.” As well as many touching human interest stories, such as this one: “Good Christ! I just went to get the mail from the box and a stupid Knight Anole lizard over a foot long jumped on my arm before bolting.”

How do I do it? I simply search on “anole” and “anolis”. There are some drawbacks, though. For example, it seems a lot of people don’t know how to spell “alone” or–I’m guessing here–“ahole”. So a bunch of the tweets don’t make a lot of sense. And how could I forget? All the tweets about the comic book character Anole, who’s exploits seem to be drawing an ever greater audience (as befits the world’s first gay superhero).

Detour on the information superhighway

And then there’s the bane of my twitter-life: some Japanese tweeters have incorporated “anole” or “anolis” into their twitternames, so periodically there’s a flood of banal tweets in Japanese to scroll through (ok, you got me, I don’t really know that they’re banal because, after all, they’re in Japanese–who knows, maybe they are important insights on anole taxonomy and biogeography). Plus, recently a dude named Ben with his address at “@anole” has started tweeting a ton of irrelevancies.

And, of course, there is some information that you’d rather not know about, like the oft-retweeted link to a disgusting video of a teenager biting a live anole in half and eating it.

It’s a brave new cyberworld out there, but if you want to keep your finger on the pulse of the ever changing anolosphere, Twitter’s the way to go. Unless there’s some new thing that’s better.

2013 Anole Calendar 65% Off

By Jonathan Losos

On December 26, 2012

In All Posts

The 2013 Anole Annals Anole Calendar has been flying off the shelves, but a few remain, and for those of you savvy shoppers who’ve waited until after Christmas, now’s the time: Zazzle is offering 65% off through Friday. Never too late for a late holiday present! The order page is here; use the Discount code: GIFTSYOUWANT. Get yours before they’re all gone!