Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University.
While hunting sagrei for fun this evening with my 3-year-old, we spotted a large male Anolis sagrei eating what I think is a mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris). This happened at 7:18 pm in the presence of minimal artificial light from lamps (albeit strong artificial light from my headlamp). Plenty of sagrei were already asleep on leaves. Surprising to find a diurnal lizard preying on a nocturnal/metaturnal gecko.
In the course of our research on small-island populations of A. smaragdinus (A. carolinensis series) in the Bahamas, we’ve encountered a number of animals with mysterious lumps. These are sometimes quite conspicuous, as in the photo below. The question is, what are they? Tumors? Parasites? Has anyone encountered something similar?
Photo by Rowan Barrett.
The growths do not appear to be restricted to any particular part of the body — we’ve also observed them on the base of tails and on limbs. The lizards in question are currently distributed across several islands, but all are descendants of small founding populations (10 individuals) originating on Staniel Cay. Eager for any insights from the anole community! (Rank speculation is also welcome.)
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