Category: Natural History Observations Page 6 of 34

A few months ago, I shared with you some of the odder morphological variations my field assistants and I encountered while measuring Anolis sagrei in Gainesville, FL. We went on to measure quite a few more lizards, and saw quite a few more oddities, as well as some fairly gruesome injuries. Here are some of my favourite examples:

1. A far better picture of a doubly-regenerated tail.

2. A jaw injury that resulted in the left and right sides of the jaws being dissociated from each other.

3. A cut hyoid. I imagine this lizard was no longer able to extend his dewlap.

4. A nasty head injury. We saw this lizard three or four more times after we measured him, and his wound seemed to have healed up completely.

5. A brutal leg injury.

6. A male with not only an impressive tail crest but also some nice red tail coloration.

The Dewlap of Cophosaurus texanus

By Shea Lambert

On September 29, 2014

In Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

Here at Anole Annals, we can appreciate a good dewlap. In particular, a pair of agamid clades, namely the genera Draco and Sitana + Otocryptis, arguably do extensible throat fans even better than Anolis. But dewlaps are actually found in many other iguanian lizards, covered by AA posts here and here.

Today I thought I’d share a lesser-known dewlap, that of Cophosaurus texanus, known as the greater (greatest?) earless lizard, and a legitimate candidate for best lizard coloration if you ask me. In my experience, these lizards don’t often dewlap, but will occasionally hit you with a few push-ups, and reliably wag their striped tails at you before darting away — though they are upstaged in this latter respect by Callisaurus draconoides. On a recent walk in the Rincon mountains near Tucson, Arizona, I encountered a particularly saucy individual, and thought I would share.

Here’s a series of photos showing a pushup/dewlap combo being delivered. By the way, Cophosaurus texanus are known to display at potential predators (see Dial 1986, American Naturalist 127:1).

Another shot, the dewlap is being retracted here:

As far as dewlaps go, its not the most impressive, but there certainly looks to be some cartilaginous rod action involved, as in Anolis. But wait – notice anything unusual in the above photos? Yes, there looks to be a parasite peeking out through the lizard’s nostril. Here’s a closer look:

Pretty gnarly. I’m not sure what the parasite is, it looks to me like it could be a maggot (hey, speaking of maggots, remember anole throat maggots?). Hope I didn’t just ruin anyone’s lunch!

Anyway, if you’re interested in learning more about Cophosaurus, here is an excellent write-up written by Robert Bezy and provided by the Tucson Herp Society.

Dwarf Boa Versus Giant Twig Anole

By Katie Boronow

On September 23, 2014

In Natural History Observations

Figure 1. Sequence of the unsuccessful predation by Tropidophis melanurus on Anolis porcus. See Torres et al. 2014 for the full description. Photos by Carlos Pérez-Penichet.

Snake predation on anoles has been widely documented on this blog (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Torres and colleagues, writing in Herpetology Notes, add to this collection with stunning pictures of a dusky dwarf boa, Tropidophis melanurus, constricting an Anolis porcus, a member of the Chamaeleolis clade. While the individuals were found entwined on the ground, they likely fell out of nearby tree since A. porcus is a highly arboreal species. The anole was ultimately spared an unpleasant fate, but it was unclear whether the lizard was too big for the snake to consume or if the snake was disturbed by the observers.

Torres, J., C. Pérez-Penichet, and O. Torres. 2014. Predation attempt by Tropidophis melanurus (Serpentes, Tropidophiidae) on Anolis porcus (Sauria, Dactyloidae). Herpetology Notes 7: 527-529.

Anoles (Sort of) Eat Mice

By Katie Boronow

On September 20, 2014

In Natural History Observations

After last week’s report about Tokay geckos consuming small rats, readers may be concerned that their favorite lizard is lacking a little in the predator department. Fear no longer! In this recent article, Torres and Acosta describe an Anolis porcatus observed carrying a dead house mouse. While the authors suspect that the mouse was disoriented by venom pellets when it was caught (and that the mouse was probably too big for the lizard to consume), it still goes to show that anoles have plenty of killer instinct. This plucky A. porcatus is especially impressive since almost all previous reports of predation by anoles on small vertebrates feature much larger crown giants.

Torres, J. and M. Acosta. 2014. Predation attempt by Anolis porcatus (Sauria, Dactyloidae) on Mus musculus (Rodentia, Muridae). Herpetology Notes 7:525-526.

New Anole Distribution Records: Do Lizards in Potted Plants at Home Depot Constitute Range Extensions?

By Graham Reynolds

On August 9, 2014

In Natural History Observations, New Research

As mentioned in the previous post, the journal Herpetological Review is an excellent resource for anole natural history information. A frequent contribution is range extensions, often by county, for both native and introduced species. Range extensions are important pieces of information for biologists, as accurate county-level distributional data is crucial in many important exercises, such as mapping species richness in a region or identifying range boundaries (and then asking why the range ends in certain areas). This quarter’s issue has the following two range extensions.

Christopher Thawley and Fern Graves report a new county record for Anolis carolinensis in Bullock Co., Alabama, just south of Auburn. This apparently fills a hole in the confirmed range of the species in that part of Alabama.

Cory Adams and friends report an extension of Anolis sagrei range in Angelina Co., Texas. Interestingly, this specimen, as well as a specimen from Nacogdoches, Texas, were found in potted plants in Home Depot and Lowe’s garden departments. The authors posit that these animals turning up in East Texas are not range extensions, as in owing to the expansion of individuals from established ranges, but instead are the result of novel introductions facilitated by interstate transport of goods such as potted plants. If this is the case, these animals could have come from anywhere, not just the invasion front along the Gulf states. In other words, if the potted plants are coming from, say, Florida, then these animals would be leapfrogging their established conspecifics to potentially start new colonies and expand the range.

Adams, CK, D. Saenz, and JD Childress. 2014. Anolis sagrei (Brown Anole). Distribution. Herpetological Review 45: 282.

Thawley, CJ and F. Graves. 2014. Anolis carolinensis (Green Anole). Distribution. Herpteological Review 45: 282.

Anolis trachyderma Loses a Sleeping-on-Leaf Battle with a Snake

By John Sullivan

On June 26, 2014

In Anole Photographs, Natural History Observations

In January 2013 I was in the Amazon rainforest in Peru near Iquitos, looking for herps to photograph. This was my first significant visit to Amazonia and I was surprised at the dearth of anoles. I hadn’t (yet) caught up on enough anole literature to realize that the anole density in that area is so very much smaller than the anole density in the Caribbean or Florida. On a good anole-finding day, I only saw perhaps three or four during the day, and another five or six sleeping at night on leaves and twigs. Most of the anoles I encountered were Anolis trachyderma, such as these two sleepers. Alas, their leafy beds were perhaps not as safe as they might have hoped…

Anolis trachyderma sleeping on a leaf at night near Iquitos, Peru.

Dewlap Plus Tail-wagging in Anolis cristatellus wileyae

By John Sullivan

On June 11, 2014

In Anole Photographs, Ask the Experts, Natural History Observations

Anolis cristatellus wileyae on St. Thomas wagging its tail as it shows its dewlap.

Crack that whip!

This proud Anolis cristatellus wileyae had snuck into the Butterfly Farm a few minutes’ walk from the cruise port in St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. So had a few dozen of its conspecifics, but this was the only one showing off its pretty two-toned dewlap while lashing its tail back and forth dramatically. Perhaps this is a common behavior, but it’s not one that I had seen before. Do other anole species also do this kind of double-showoff?

Japalura – The Many Shades

By Anurag Mishra

On May 27, 2014

In Natural History Observations

Northeast India is a rather unexplored place even though it boasts huge biodiversity, mostly due to the numerous rivers and mountains that dot the landscape and form formidable barriers to dispersal. A majority of the taxa found in this region still await valid descriptions. I have been working on amphibians in the state of Arunachal Pradesh (one of the seven states that form the ‘Northeast’) during my undergraduate years and during my field work, I came across some very striking gular color morphs of the genus Japalura. The genus Japalura consists of 26 species which range from Northeast India in the west to Japan and Taiwan in the east, north to Shaanxi province in northern China and south to northern Vietnam. Of these, four species have been so far reported from Northeast India.

From the photographs taken in the field, Ulrich Manthey identified all of them as belonging Japalura andersoniana. If all of them are the same species, the variation in the gular coloration indeed comes across as striking. There was a note in Sauria (Bhosale et al 2013) that listed various morphs, but no speculations on what could be the possible causes. I have seen these lizards in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary (EWS) and Talley Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (TVWS). The published note has color morphs from another place – Kamlung Wildlife Sanctuary (refer to the map for relative locations of the two places within Arunachal Pradesh)

The locations of Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, Talley Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and Kamlung Wildlife Sanctuary

The observations for each specimen with the corresponding number from #01- #05 is summarised from my field notes. Note: All the animals were encountered opportunistically; there was no dedicated sampling effort toward lizards whatsoever. Elevation recorded from a Casio altimeter watch.

The different color morphs of Japalura species – The field notes are listed corresponding to #01-#05

#01 – EWS, June 2012, Adult, It is the most commonly occurring color morph in EWS. I have also seen juveniles with similar throat colors, Seen in the elevation range 1100m – 1600m asl.

#02 – EWS, May 2012, Adult, encountered at an elevation of around 1800m asl. I haven’t come across a second individual resembling this throat coloration.

#03 – EWS, June 2012, Juvenile, encountered at around 1990m asl; I have never encountered an adult with such coloration.

#04 – Juvenile, throat not very well developed, could possibly be a female, encountered at an elevation around 1350m asl where I have encountered larger individuals with no throat color.

#05 – Juvenile, however, an expedition the previous year by a different group found an adult with similar throat color, the only color morph seen in Talley Valley.

Even if they are the same species, it is quite possible that the different throat color morphs are divergent populations breeding in isolation, especially because apart from #01, the other color morphs have been reported from only particular localities. It is also important to survey more of the Northeast to see if the unexplored areas are home to novel throat color morphs. Speculations with just a few records would be rather vague.

Green Anoles Sunning in San Diego

By Yoel Stuart

On April 23, 2014

In Introduced Anoles, Natural History Observations

Zookeeper Amber Carney sent these photos of what is likely Anolis carolinensis. The lizards were spotted in Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, at 3pm on the 19th of April. They’ve been reported in Los Angeles but, to the best of my and Jonathan Losos’s knowledge, never in San Diego. Has anyone else observed wild anoles in San Diego? Range expansion!

This looks like a female to me.

A male, perhaps.

Crown-giant habitat overlap

By James T. Stroud

On April 5, 2014

In Introduced Anoles, Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

Spring is the season for spotting crown-giant anoles in Miami!

I was hosting (recently graduated Lacertid-ophile, although closet anologist) Dr. Robert Heathcote for a few days this week, and after his failed attempt at catching a Cuban knight anole (A. equestris) a fortnight previous, I had promised to deliver him another! Now, I imagine many AA readers may chuckle at someone foolish enough to promise a crown-giant observation (myself included). Much to my relief luck was on our side and we managed to spot not one, but TWO species practically on top of each other!