Pop on over to Dust Tracks on the Web and help Janson decide if this majestic fellow is a sagrei or a cristatellus…or something else. And read some of his other recent posts on anole adventuring.
Category: Introduced Anoles Page 10 of 11
Walt Meshaka has just published a fabulous new monograph on the introduced reptiles and amphibians of Florida in Herpetological Conservation and Biology. Check it out here. It includes the latest word on the eight introduced anoles of that fine state.
Studying the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) in Taiwan has presented me with numerous new opportunities, one of which is an introduction into parasitology.
A Kiricephalus pattoni nymph under the skin of a female brown anole (Anolis sagrei), collected in southwestern Taiwan.
The first parasites I found in A. sagrei in Taiwan were relatively large worm-like parasites that are often visible as a lump under the skin of the lizard. Unfortunately, my first samples were lost by the person I had sent them to for identification. But luckily, I found some more, and with the assistance of C.R. Bursey and S.R. Goldberg, the parasites were identified as the nymphs of the pentastome, Kiricephalus pattoni. Together we reported A. sagrei as a new host of this parasite in Taiwan (Norval et al., 2009).
I saw the recent posts about orange/red sagrei and I thought I might contribute another observation of orange-colored brown anoles. A few years ago while assisting another grad student with his dissertation work I spotted a few orange-colored brown anoles in a suburban yard in S. Florida. What I thought was most interesting about the observation was that: 1) there were multiple males (2-3) with orange color, and 2) many of the palms on which lizards were perched were a similar orange color. It got me thinking that it could be more than a coincidence.
The orange color on the trees, sidewalks, and other hard substrates in the area is from ground water with a high concentration of iron. When sprayed on the surface with sprinklers it mixes with oxygen and leaves an orange color. Many houses, signs, sidewalks, and even cars in S. Florida are graced with an arc or two of orange residue. I’ve yet to revisit this lawn or surrounding houses, but I bet there are quite a few more houses with orange lizards. For what it’s worth, I see and catch a lot of brown anoles further south in the Miami area and this is the only case of red/orange brown anoles I’ve seen yet. It’s possible that these lizards were covered in rust, but it didn’t look like it when I got one in my hand. It’s also interesting that all of the photos I’ve seen of orange-colored brown anoles are male, however I’ve only seen about 4 cases including this observation. Oh, and the dewlaps on these males were normal(ish), not like the cool one recently posted by Joe Burgess.
Photograph by Craig Berg
During a spring trip to the Dominican Republic, I spent a few nights at a high-rise hotel along the “beach” in Santo Domingo. The hotel had a concrete imprint, totally devoid of grounds. It faced a busy four-lane road and the “malecón.” A narrow band of greenery, often a single row of trees, separates the far side of the street and the high-tide mark. Anolis distichus and naturalized A. porcatus occur in small numbers along that green band. Some ornamental plantings on the fifth floor, accessible only by scaling the outside of the hotel or through the building or parking garage, supported a small number of A. distichus. I observed at least ten individuals engaged in male-male interactions, mating, and movements across a paved driveway to an even smaller planting with a few shrubs paralleling the drive. Although these individuals (or their ancestors) could have colonized this isolated pocket on their own, I believe that it is much more likely that they were introduced with the plants (a few of which were still in plastic pots). I’m guessing that this scenario is not unique and that similar isolated populations of various species exist in comparable situations throughout the islands (e.g., A. cristatellus occupies analogous, albeit not quite such isolated, plantings at the international airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico). Although some gene flow might occur when new plantings arrive, these tiny isolates, composed of no more than a few dozen individuals, are probably genetically isolated and subject to considerable inbreeding. Has anyone ever examined the lizards in such tightly constrained artificial pockets of habitat? That they exist at all, much less appear to function for extended periods, is testament to the extent to which at least some anoles adapt readily to extremely altered situations.
Not an anole, but plays one on TV. Photo from Dust Tracks on the Web (http://dusttracks.com/)
Janson Jones is at it again. Having just driven about as cross-continent as you can get, from Alaska to the Florida Keys, he is now waxing eloquent on the lizards of that delightful island string. Today’s post is about introduced green iguanas, which apparently are everywhere and spreading, but yesterday he posted twice, on brown anoles (A. sagrei) and bark anoles (A. distichus) , with some keen observations on interactions between the two. Most notably, he’s noticed on multiple occasions that the larger browns chase off the the daintier barks.
postscript: Just as I hit the “post” button, Jones put up another of his own, with further observations on bark anoles and outlining what would make an excellent Ph.D. dissertation project. Plus, this intriguing observation:
“…the iPad of anoles in the Florida Keys. They’re right on the edge, living in the third space, transitory ground between the browns on the ground and the greens in the trees. They’re not iPhones, but they’re not desktops either. Right in the middle — and perhaps drawing business from both sides?”
Bark anole, A. distichus, from Dust Tracks on the Web
The newspaper article to announce the actions to eradicate brown anoles (Anolis sagrei) in Santzepu, Sheishan District, Chiayi County, Taiwan.
On the 28th of April, 2011, I posted an article here in AA about the actions of the Taiwanese authorities to try and remove Anolis sagrei in Chiayi County. On the 25th of June, 2011, it was announced that they have acquired more funding (they ran out of funds previously) and that they will continue with these actions this year.
The alarming part is how they (whoever wrote the article) mislead the public, who believes in what is said in the newspapers, by providing incorrect information in the article.
They report that in the past two years 127,458 brown anoles were removed, and since the past winter was colder than usual, they believe they can eradicate this species by again paying the public a bounty of N.T.$ 20 (ca. U.S.$ 0.70) for every lizard they collect. I am confident they will run out of funds again, and the brown anole will persist! I am also convinced that something other than conservation is driving these actions.
Anolis cristatellus in Miami. Photo by Melissa Losos
In his spare time, photographer and film-maker extraordinaire Neil Losin doubles as a graduate student studying the ecological interactions between introduced trunk-ground anoles A. sagrei and A. cristatellus in Miami. He’s just begun his third field season, and you can read all about it here.
The March issue of IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians: Conservation and Natural History has just been received, and it is their most anoleful issue ever. The highlight is a delightful report of an expedition to tiny and desolate Sombrero Island in the northern Lesser Antilles, home to a population of A. gingivinus which, lacking trees as available perches, is forced to hang onto the vertical walls of the abandoned lighthouse keeper’s house.
In addition, another article reports the introduction of A. sagrei to St. Lucia, complementing introductions of that species to many other islands in the Lesser Antilles: St. Maarten, St. Vincent, Grenada and the Grenadines, and Barbados. Is it just a matter of time before it occupies every island south of the Greater Antilles? Another article, however, reports the snuffing out of a propagule of two A. sagrei that arrived to Layou, St. Vincent in a flower pot from Florida. However, as the article notes, the species thrives elsewhere on the island. Lastly, the Table of Contents page has a nice photograph of A. conspersus from Grand Cayman.
As if articles on anoles weren’t enough a reason to subscribe, I have to comment on the beautiful photographs that can be found throughout this magazine, along with interesting articles on a wide variety of reptiles and amphibians.