Category: Natural History Observations Page 33 of 34

Anolis gemmosus from Mindo, Ecuador

One of the reasons that spot-lighting for anoles at nights works so well is that many anole species adopt a lighter color in the evening. This was first noted by Reverend Lockwood in an article in the American Naturalist in 1876 who noted that his captive anoles were usually brown during the day, even when on a green leaf, and were green at night, even when sleeping on brown surfaces. He concluded (p.13): “The belief that the color of the contiguous object is mimicked for the sake of protection is, I think, not confirmed by the observed facts. The truth is that in this matter of animals enjoying life there is a higher law than that of mere intention. I shall call it the law of spontaneous expression, which has its base in another law, to wit, that a joy unuttered is a sense repressed. Why should green be the favorite night-gown of our sleeping Anolis? I timidly venture the suggestion that it is because the animal is disposing itself for the luxury of sleep, its color changes being the utterances of its emotions . . . Whether it be the expression of enjoyment of repose, comfort, or emotional joy, the highest manifestation is its display of green.”

Photo Caption Contest

By Jonathan Losos

On March 11, 2011

In Natural History Observations, New Research

We’ll all give a big hand to whomever provides the best caption for this photo. While you’re ruminating about something clever, notice that this adult male Anolis sagrei, collected from an introduced population in Taiwan and reported on here, is quite fat and sassy (or at least fat). Clearly, the extra appendage did it no harm. Who knows, maybe it even helped! Many anoles with three legs have been collected over the years (more examples always welcome). The existence of five-legged anoles means that it is now statistically possible to examine the relationship between limb number and sprint speed. Stay tuned.

Green Anole Mayhem

By Jonathan Losos

On March 6, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Florida green anoles appear so loving and peaceful. But perhaps the tranquility of Hawaii brings out the devil in them. Johanna Mercier was on vacation on Kauai with her husband and daughters when she snapped these photos on February 27^th. She describes what happened: “These were taken in Kapa’a, Kauai at about 4:30pm. They were on a hibiscus plant and I almost missed them, they blended in so well. I watched them for almost half an hour and finally had to pull myself away to make dinner. NOT being sarcastic, they were fascinating! They would flare out their dewlaps and bob at each other with their mouths open and then latch onto each other. They would stay in this lock for easily 5-10 minutes without moving. Then one would slip and fall; they’d climb back to each other and do it all again.”

More Mainland Bird Predation on Anoles

By Jonathan Losos

On March 5, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Photo @Alexa Class.

Pictured here is a nestling ocellated antbird with an anole of some sort (A. lemurinus? humilis?) stuffed down its throat (photo taken at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica; event described in Ornitologia Neotropical, vol. 20, 2009). Alexa Class and Johel Chaves-Campos several times observed these birds take anoles from army ants. Johel also reported he has “seen bare-necked umbrellabirds grabbing Norops capito anoles from tree trunks covered with mosses at middle elevations (about 1000 m, Caribbean Slope) in Costa Rica. I was truly impressed by how far away the bird was when it detected the lizard; at least 30 feet away in front of me. Actually, I was watching it with binoculars. The lizard was perhaps 7-10 feet away from me, on my side, and the bird flew directly towards where the lizard was and took it in front of my face. By the way, the lizard was so well camouflaged that I couldn’t see it until the bird took it. Great vision!”

Colombian Quetzal Feeds Anole to Nestling, But What Species of Anole?

By Jonathan Losos

On February 28, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Photo copyright Ben Freeman

Ben Freeman of Cornell University writes: here is a photo of a White-tipped Quetzal with an anole, taken at 1800 m on Santa Marta Mountain, Colombia. While working as a bird guide we found an active quetzal nest and we had the chance to observe the adults on various days (<10 h observation). On three occasions, we saw quetzals bring anoles of the size shown in the photo, while an adult appeared to bring a fruit (Lauraceae) on one occasion. The adult posed for a long time with the lizard before entering the nest, presumably feeding the nestling(s) in the cavity nest.

Anyone know what species of anole this might be?

Anole predation, literally

By Katharina Wollenberg Valero

On February 18, 2011

In Natural History Observations

It was just one of these mornings when I found myself in the x-ray imaging facility downstairs, post-coffee, but still mostly functioning vegetatively, scanning my specimens. The most interesting incidences during these sessions usually involve Jon catching me dancing around to the mp3 player while waiting for the machine to finish or finding healed bone fractures and the like on the freshly acquired images. Sometimes I can even see gut contents, like what I think are elytras of coleoptera, or fractured snail shells. Well imagine my surprise when I scanned this massive male Anolis cybotes and found this in its stomach:

Image by K. Wollenberg Valero

It seems like it’s congener didn’t stand a chance – swallowed whole, head-first.

Image by K. Wollenberg Valero

Although the skull is pretty digested already and I can’t make out the shoulder girdle, it looks to me like a distichoid anole – a likely candidate, as these two types are frequently sharing their microhabitat (the trunks of trees and such).

Anolis Predation, Again

By lizardcoop

On February 17, 2011

In Natural History Observations

On a recent trip to Puerto Rico, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon an Alsophis portoricensis eating an adult male Anolis cristatellus. I was immediately reminded of Yoel’s post about A. sagrei and a black racer, and decided to set up my video camera. The entire event took about seventeen minutes, but sadly I missed the most interesting part – the capture. For those of you who don’t want to sit through the ten-minute clip, I recommend checking out the 3:50 mark [where the anole has his dewlap extended] and the last 30 seconds or so [to see both an interesting witness to the feeding event and the snake’s attempt to climb the tree after completing its meal].

Hungry for more information on Alsophis feeding behavior, particularly as it relates to anoles? Check out the work by Javier Rodríguez-Robles, Manuel Leal, & Richard Thomas, over at Javier’s home-page here.

Nature’s Lunch Box

By Jonathan Losos

On February 2, 2011

In Introduced Anoles, Natural History Observations, New Research

Little blue heron snacks on A. sagrei. Photo copyright bullfrog101, http://www.flickr.com/photos/43104350@N02/4463474718/sizes/l/in/photostream/

In the West Indies and southeastern U.S., the enormous population size of anole species makes them an important component of the ecosystem. In the rainforest of Puerto Rico, for example, the three most common anole species consume an estimated 450,000 insects per hectare. The flip side of this abundance is that anoles—small, not very fast, presumably tasty—may be an important food source for many other species. Indeed, most West Indian snakes eat anoles and, collectively, anoles constitute more than 50% of the diet of West Indian snakes. Similarly, many types of birds will eat anoles at least occasionally (e.g., 40% of the species at one study site in Grenada were observed eating anoles), and some species eat them in large numbers. In addition to birds and snakes, anoles seem to be eaten by just about any flesh-eating animal (or plant) big enough to do so. Other documented predators include many types of lizards (including many instances of cannibalism), dogs, cats, mongooses, frogs, katydids, tarantulas, spiders, whip scorpions, and centipedes (see Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree for citations and further discussion).

Despite the ecosystem importance of anoles, and particularly of predation on them, there is still a lot we don’t know about who eats anoles, when and how. For this reason, field studies are needed, and everyone should be encouraged to document observations they make. For example, a recent post on the “Anolis Lizard” page on Facebook provided a link to a video of a crab eating an unfortunate A. agassizi (itself a remarkable and little known species from Malpelo Island in the Pacific). I am unaware of any previous evidence of crab predation on anoles, and scavenging can be ruled out because the poor lizard is still alive. This situation may be atypical, though, because Malpelo is essentially one big rock, and thus the anoles are always on the ground.

Anolis Fangoria – Not for the Faint of Heart!

By Martha Muñoz

On January 29, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Fangoria - A quality publication and eductional tool for young children and for the young at heart.

I don’t know if it’s the cheap gore or the shock of something unexpected, but finding an anatomical oddity or bizarre mutant awakens the morbid curiosity impulse in me. Blame it on a childhood of being a closet reader of Fangoria and Rue Morgue, if you will. But several seasons in the field will put you face to face with some strange and bizarre reptile injuries. When I come across oddities, my first reaction is typically visceral, depending on the severity. My second reaction is curiosity. Where did the injury happen? What caused it to heal this way? I can’t say I ever have many answers, but the gory paraphernalia could fill a journal.

Memorial Wall for Fallen Heroes of Natural History

By lukemahler

On January 27, 2011

In All Posts, Anole Annals Trivia, Anoles and Anolologists in the News, Classics from the Literature, Natural History Observations

Over at strange behaviors, Richard Conniff has posted an interesting memorial list:

The Wall of the Dead

The list sets out to honor naturalists who have lost their lives in the field or during other natural history pursuits. A lot of sad stories behind the names here, but a lot of epic ones too. I would bet that a great many of these fallen naturalists died doing what they loved best.

One of the names on the list is Ken Miyata, a young anole biologist who passed away in 1983. Ken was a student of Ernest Williams at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology in the late 70s (Ph.D. 1980), and he conducted fantastic work on anoles and other reptiles and amphibians, primarily in Ecuador. Although many of us probably know him for the mark he made on tropical herpetology during his brief career, Ken was much better known as a world-class fly fisherman, and it was that passion that ultimately killed him (see a brief retrospective here; see also these recent mentions of Ken by his old friends Jerry Coyne and Greg Mayer on the blog Why Evolution is True).

A name that’s missing from this wall is Preston Webster, another seminal anole biologist who died too young in a 1975 car crash. You can suggest additions to Conniff’s list in the comments of that blog, and he’ll add them. Does anyone who knew Webster want to put a few words on this site? I know very little about the man, but if there aren’t any takers, I’ll try to add him in a couple of days. I believe Webster was in the Dakotas when he died, and I don’t know if he was engaged in any ‘naturalist’s pursuits’ at the time (certainly not on anoles!). But this probably doesn’t matter – there are other great biologists on the list who died early in unrelated accidents.

There are several other herpetologists mentioned. Are there any other anole biologists missing from the list?