Category: Anole Photographs Page 3 of 9

Anole Photo Contest Is Back!

On October 30, 2015

Lucas Bustamante-Enríquez’s Grand Prize-winning photo of A. chrysolepis from the 2013 contest (© Lucas M. Bustamante-Enríquez/TROPICAL HERPING)

We know you’ve all been waiting, so here it is! Anole Annals is pleased to announce the return of the Anole Photo Contest, 2015 edition! We’re closing in on November, which means it’s time to gather the best anole photographs for our 2016 calendar. As with previous contests, the goal is to identify 12 winning photos. The grand prize winner will have his/her photo featured on the front cover of the 2016 Anole Annals calendar, second place winner will have his/her photo featured on the back cover, and they’ll both win a free calendar! (Check out the 2013 and 2012 winners). We’re a bit late getting things going this year, so get your photos in as soon as you can!

The rules: submit your photos (as many as you’d like) as email attachments to anoleannals@gmail.com. To make sure that your submissions arrive, please send an accompanying email without any attachments to confirm that we’ve received them. Photos must be at least 150 dpi and print to a size of 11 x 17 inches. If you are unsure how to resize your images, the simplest thing to do is to submit the raw image files produced by your digital camera (or if you must, a high quality scan of a printed image). If you elect to alter your own images, don’t forget that it’s always better to resize than to resample. Images with watermarks or other digital alterations that extend beyond color correction, sharpening and other basic editing will not be accepted. We are not going to deal with formal copyright law and ask only your permission to use your image for the calendar and related content on Anole Annals (more specifically, by submitting your photos, you are agreeing to allow us to use them in the calendar). We, in turn, agree that your images will never be used without attribution and that we will not profit financially from their use (nobody is going to make any money from the sale of these calendars because they’ll be available directly from the vendor).

Please provide a short description of the photo that includes: (1) the species name, (2) the location where the photo was taken, and (3) any other relevant information. Twelve winning photos will be selected by readers of Anole Annals from a set of 28 finalists chosen by the editors of Anole Annals. The grand prize winning and runner-up photos will be chosen by a panel of anole photography experts. Deadline for submission is November 21, 2015.

Good luck, and we look forward to seeing your submissions!

Conception Island, Bahamas Lizard Survey

By Graham Reynolds

On August 4, 2015

In Anole Photographs, Notes from the Field

A view across Conception Island from the North.

Female A. sagrei

As part of our saga chasing Anolis sagrei around the Caribbean, we had the incredible fortune to visit the remote Conception Island Bank in the Bahamas. Conception Island and its associated small satellites are situated on their own bank, adjacent to Long Island which occupies a southeastern edge of the Great Bahamas Bank. Conception Bank and all its satellite islets are protected by the Bahamas National Trust as a National Park, and the bank is presently uninhabited though there is some history of human habitation in the past. Conception Island is quite small, totaling only 9 km by 2 km and has never been connected to any other island banks, meaning that the plants and animals here have almost certainly arrived via dispersal. Though located only 25 km ENE from the northern tip of Long Island, the 2400 m deep water and strong NW currents mean that the Conception Bank has a relatively depauperate terrestrial fauna owing to the vicissitudes of over-water dispersal. For example, in the latest comprehensive list of island herpetofaunal records, Long Island boasts 16 native extant species of reptiles and amphibians, relative to just five on the Conception Bank. Granted, this is potentially owing to lower sampling effort on Conception, as it is a remote, difficult, and expensive place to conduct extensive surveys. Indeed at least one record, that of the Bahamas Boa Chilabothrus strigilatus, is poorly documented and probably spurious.

An unusual dewlap color for A. sagrei

Alberto Puente-Rolon (UIPR-Arecibo), Anthony Geneva (Glor/Losos labs), Nick Herrmann (Losos Lab), and Kevin Aviles-Rodriguez (Kolbe/Revell labs) traveled with me to the Conception Bank aboard the Golden Bear out of Stella Maris, Long Island for two days in July 2015. Our goal was to sample Anolis sagrei from the bank, as well as generally conduct herpetofaunal surveys. We were particularly interested in verifying and attempting to build upon the last report of a herpetofaunal survey there (Franz and

Male Anolis sagrei displaying a light orange/ yellow dewlap in coastal palm scrub habitat.

Buckner 1998). While we expected Anolis sagrei to be present (it was), we also thought that the lack of a record for Anolis distichus might not stand up to our surveys. Alas, we checked multiple habitat types both day and night, from beach scrub to mature forests to mangroves and failed to turn up A. distichus. Though present on nearby Rum and San Salvador Banks (as well as Long Island), this species is curiously apparently absent from Conception.

Happily, we did find Anolis sagrei in abundance, and with some unusual features to boot. For one, the largest males are really quite large, tipping the scales at over 7 grams. Many males sported tall tail crests, and in the coastal scrub habitat, their yellowish dewlaps, combined with large size and tail crests, gave them an overall appearance very similar to Puerto Rican Crested Anoles (A. cristatellus). Interestingly, dewlaps in the forest appeared more traditionally sagrei-red, so we will see what our spectrometer and photographic data tell us about dewlap color variation on the bank. We will continue to update AA on our work with A. sagrei in the Bahamas.

Male Anolis sagrei with a large tail crest.

Kevin and Nick at work

Anolis equestris: Miami’s Favorite Cannibal

By Winter Beckles

On April 9, 2015

In Anole Photographs

Anolis equestris with a smaller Anolis equestris in its jaws.

An Anolis equestris captures a smaller A. equestris in South Miami.

Cannibalism in Anolis equestris is nothing new, but that doesn’t make it any less surprising to witness! On a morning stroll in South Miami this past weekend, I noticed a flash of green movement on a tree. Upon closer inspection I realized there was a medium-large A. equestris with a smaller A. equestris wedged between its jaws. I hurried to snap a few photos with my wife’s phone, and while they aren’t Neal Losin-caliber (ha ha), I still wanted to share them with my favorite anole community!

Once I got too close, the A. equestris decided it was time to take its meal higher up the tree. An unsuspecting A. distichus saw the approaching A. equestris and began to dewlap enthusiastically. You can see the A. distichus near the top of the last photo. Enjoy!

Species ID from Bimini – A. sagrei or distichus?

By Kristin Winchell

On March 31, 2015

In Anole Photographs, Ask the Experts

After looking through my photos from my trip last week to Bimini in the Bahamas, I was disappointed when I realized that none of us seemed to have any pictures of Anolis distichus. Or maybe we did? Among all the typical sagrei-looking anole photos was this guy:

Anolis distichus or Anolis sagrei???

Without telling you why I thought this was a distichus, or why others I have asked are torn between distichus and sagrei, I am curious what people think. What species is this?

Help Identify a Large Costa Rican Anole

By Steve Edmonds

On March 24, 2015

In All Posts, Anole Photographs, Ask the Experts

I was just curious if any one could help me identify an anole I found in central Costa rica, near San Ramon in the Alberto Manuel Brenese Biological Reserve. It appears to be a male, and I’m assuming in the Dactyloa genus. My guess would be the Dactyloa casildae, but I am family uncertain. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could help me out! Cheers and good health!

Fighting for Territory!

By Catalina Mantilla

On March 15, 2015

In Anole Photographs

These two brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) were displaying for territory, showing their brightly orange dewlaps and crests, and ended up like this! Finally, the evidently dominant one “won,” and the other one almost got caught by my cat (when he fell from the plant after being released from the aggressive one’s jaws).

Some Sleepy Anoles from Costa Rica

By HannahKimFrank

On March 12, 2015

In Anole Photographs, Ask the Experts, Notes from the Field

I’m in southern Costa Rica doing field work with bats, but once an anole lover, always an anole lover so when I get a night off I like to go herping. Since everyone loves a sleeping anole (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, among others), I thought I’d share some photos that a friend and I took while wandering around at night. I’m not sure what the last one is; I’m guessing Anolis polylepis (we’re at 1100m at the Las Cruces Biological Station and it was sleeping about 1m above the ground).

Anolis capito. Photo by Jon Flanders

Anolis aquaticus. Photo by Jon Flanders

Anolis polylepis? Photo by Jon Flanders

What’s the Best Camera for Photographing Lizards in the Field?

By Graham Reynolds

On February 3, 2015

In Anole Photographs, Ask the Experts

Photo by Robert Siegel

Hi Everyone, I am in the market for a new field camera. Looking for something durable, portable, and that can take great shots of anoles and their dewlaps (so good at close-ups, but not necessarily a macro lens). I currently use a Nikon D5100 SLR, but it is fairly bulky and fragile. What sorts of cameras and camera systems do you use in the field? Thanks!

Photo by Robert Siegel

Photo by Gisela Kaufmann

Observations of Anolis allisoni on the Island of Roatan, Honduras

By Martha Muñoz

On January 9, 2015

In Anole Photographs

Marine biologist (and occasional anolologist) James Hewlett, a Professor at Finger Lakes Community College, shared a few photos with me from his recent trip to Roatan island. Jim was in Roatan to do reef surveys, but in the few moments he wasn’t under the water, he was out looking for anoles. He found numerous Anolis allisoni, even at midday, when it was stifling hot. Anolis allisoni are known to be quite abundant on this island, and do exhibit quite a bit of variation in coloration.

Anolis allisoni is not the only anole found on Roatan. It probably comes as no surprise, but the brown anole (A. sagrei) has made its way to the island. Jim did not observe any brown anoles on his recent trip, but I reckon they’re still there and doing just fine. Despite his best efforts, Jim was unable to find the other native Roatan anole, Anolis roatanensis. A few years ago, Jonathan Losos was also unable to spot this creature on his first day of herping, but eventually did find it (see photo in comments below) by visiting more forested areas on the island. If you visit Roatan and manage to spot this species, please do share. We’d love to see more photographs of it.

In the meanwhile, here are some of Jim’s images:

Anolis huilae en Cacería (Anolis huilae Hunting)

By DAVID ALFONSO BEJARANO-BONILLA

On November 1, 2014

In Anole Photographs

Macho de Anolis huilae acechando una presa.

Observaciones realizadas en mi finca (Ibagué – Colombia) de un macho de Anolis huilae acechando su presa y una hembra predando su presa. He tenido la oportunidad de observar individuos de ésta especie cazando orugas, larvas y moscas y, la manera como ellos invierten algún tiempo para acechar a sus presas para capturarlas . Aún se desconoce la dieta exacta de esta especie de lagarto endémico de la cordillera Central de Colombia.

Predación por parte de una hembra de Anolis huilae

Editor’s note: Google translates the passage above as follows. It’s amazing how good this programs are getting!:

Observations made on my farm (Ibague - Colombia) of a male Anolis huilae stalking his prey and a female predating its prey. I have had the opportunity to observe individuals of this species hunting caterpillars, larvae and flies and how they spend some time to stalk their prey to catch them. The exact diet of this species of lizard endemic to Central Cordillera of Colombia is still unknown.