Green anole recently captured on Grand Cayman
This fella was caught a week and a half ago near North Side fire station, Grand Cayman. It’s the first green anole found outside the capital, Georgetown. The question: what is it? Anolis carolinensis? Anolis porcatus? Something else?
In fact, I frequently get asked whether a particular green anole is carolinensis or porcatus. Some people say they can tell them apart. I’m not so sure.
For years I’ve been perplexed by the definition of native because it seems to vary greatly (almost as confusing as the definition of species itself – there are “species” that vary only through geography). Is native a time dependant variable? Does it refer to a pre-Columbian period? (Of course even the term “Native American” is nebulous at best – Kennewick Man).
The reason I bring up this question is that it seems logical to me that Anolis carolinensis originated in the Caribbean, specifically in Cuba. Based on the present day currents through the Florida Straights my guess would be somewhere in western Cuba. If western Cuba is indeed the point of origin, the most likely seed species would be Anolis porcatus. Possibly over hundreds of thousands of years including an ice age, carolinensis adapted to cooler and cooler temperatures and eventually established itself throughout the southeastern United States.
Knight anole from Grand Bahama. Photo courtesy of Daniel Murray.
A population of Anolis equestris has been reported from the island of Grand Bahamas. Specifically near Our Lucaya, living in a stand of dilly trees.
Only A. sagrei is native to Grand Bahama (which is somewhat remarkable given the size of the island), but equestris is the third introduced anole there, following distichus and a green anole (either carolinensis or smaragdinus, but I’m not sure if it is clear which). Is anyone aware of knight anoles elsewhere in the Bahamas? They seem to be getting around the Caribbean, as they have shown up in New Providence in the Bahamas, as well as Grand Cayman and the Turks and Caicos (see Knapp et al. and Powell et al. chapters in book discussed here). Given their size, they seem an unlikely stow-away, although eggs could be transported in nursery plants. The pet trade has also been implicated as a possibility.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0bkDhKeeQ4
Thanks to the former student, who sent me the link.
A brown anole from Lanai. Photo from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/04/28/725559/-Dove-Porn,-Avian-Conflict-and-Lanai-Dragons-A-Photo-Diary
Colonizer extraordinaire A. sagrei has been known from the Hawaiian islands since 1980 and has become established on not only Oahu, where it first appeared, but also on Kauai and Maui. Now Mautz and Shaffer report in the December, 2011 issue of Herpetological Review that it has become established in several locations on the Big Island (Hawaii).
First detected in the lush plantings of several resorts, Mautz and Shaffer figured plant nurseries were probably the culprit for their spread, as they have been elsewhere. When they visited a local garden store, sure enough, the brown anoles were there in abundance.
Indeed, where the brown anoles were found, which was not everywhere, they clearly were well-established. At one site, two observers found 26 brownies in a 1 hour, 45 minute visit, whereas at another site in only 47 minutes, 62 adult and juvenile browns were seen.
Mautz and Shaffer conclude: “Given the current limited distribution of A. sagrei on Hawaii Island, we strongly recommend that immediate action be taken to eradicate it before it can spread further.” But I’d wager that it’s too late. Brown anoles breed like rabbits and are wilier than coyotes–I’d predict that nothing less than a scorched earth policy would be able to eradicate them.
The gold dust gecko in Hawaii. Photo from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/ 2995054890_c987b2294c.jpg
Mautz and Shaffer’s article raises another interesting point about the Hawaiian herpetofauna.
This past weekend, I came across one A. sagrei perched on a building in Savannah, Georgia. It appears that this introduced lizard’s invasion is spreading north from Florida.
New minor color variants appear every once in a while, but it’s always interesting to find something completely different. This, to the best of my knowledge, is something completely different. I’ve found a few of these guys running around, and most had very similar colors. Considering their size (and presumptive age) I wonder if they were from the same clutch, or if a single breeding pair yielded this Punnett square anomaly.
I think the concept of cryptic coloration isn't on his mind.
Both of the males I had time to annoy/photograph (and the one female that was slightly less photogenic) exhibited the usual traits of A. sagrei. From the heavier build and shorter snouts, as well as the bolder attitude than our native carolinensis (I think the dewlap display was more for me than anything else; even when I was three feet away with a rather bulky camera, both males stood their ground), they would definitely fit the profile. But they’re not structurally an exact match to sagrei’s either. I don’t have a great head-on shot, but they’re narrower. Considering the insect population in the area I can’t say it’s from undernourishment. They move and jump more like carolinensis as well. They just don’t seem to be a differently-colored sagrei. Maybe there’s a little A. cristatellus in there.
So what exactly is our bold little friend here?
I’m not the first one here to wonder what hybridization would yield and what cool little recessive traits could come from it, but I haven’t seen nearly enough specimens to suggest it’s a morph that may stick around- whatever it’s source.
Even Neil Losin’s cellphone photos turn out spectacular!
Not content with kicking butt in Florida, Anolis sagrei has recently been reported from the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Photo by Melissa Losos.
Anole Annals has previously reported on the ongoing interactions between A. cristatellus and A. sagrei in Miami (for example, here and cool video here), as well as the invasion of Costa Rica by A. cristatellus. Now the plot has thickened.
In a 2009 paper in Zootaxa, Savage and Bolaños reported that A. sagrei had been collected in the vicinity of Limon, the same region in which A. cristatellus also has been introduced. Jay Savage has kindly provided further information that A. sagrei is not only common in some parts of central Limon, where A. cristatellus is also known to be common, but it is also reported to be common at a Shell gas station in the nearby town of Moin, a town in which, again, A. cristatellus is common. It will be interesting to see how rapidly A. sagrei spreads in Costa Rica, and how the two species interact. One interesting twist: in Miami, it is A. cristatellus that has invaded in the presence of an already well-established A. sagrei; in Costa Rica, the table is turned. There’s a great research project waiting to be done here!
Any reason to think these anoles, which arrived on Canouan in a container, presumably from Florida, are anything other than Anolis carolinensis?
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