Category: Notes from the Field Page 17 of 22

Anole Annals Trivia: What are We Looking At?

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On August 16, 2011

In Anole Annals Trivia, Notes from the Field

Invertebrates associated with Hispaniolan anoles. Scale bar in right panel is in millimeters.

The invertebrates in the image above were photographed yesterday in the Dominican Republic.  Today’s trivia is related to these invertebrates and consists of three questions:

1. What are these invertebrates and how do they interact with anoles?

2. How many individuals are in the right panel (note: all of these individuals were associated with a single anole)?

3. How do these invertebrates factor into Dominican folklore?

Hybridization in Action?

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On August 15, 2011

In Notes from the Field

Photo copyright R. Glor 2011.

Perhaps this is Anole Annals’ first NSFW post, but the mating event depicted in the photo above was such an exciting observation and photographic opportunity that I can’t help but share.  Yesterday we discovered a new contact zone between two phenotypically and genetically distinct populations of Anolis distichus along the Rio Bani (this contact zone is along the river’s eastern bank rather than along its well-traversed western bank). Along a narrow zone of contact (~500 m), green bodied, orange dewlapped populations of A. d. ignigularis come into contact with gray-bodied, yellow dewlapped populations of A. d. ravitergum.  While sampling this contact zone, we ran across the copulating pair pictured above. The fact that the male is predominantly gray and the female predominantly green may be an indication that this is a hybridization event between A. d. ravitergum and A. d. ignigularis; genetic analyses on tissue samples collected from the pair will soon provide the answer!

If it is a hybrid pair, its likely to be more successful than others reported recently on anole anoles (e.g., A. carolinensis and A. sagrei); although hybrids between A. d. ignigularis and A. d. ravitergum are rare in nature, our captive mating experiments have yielded hundreds of eggs and offspring from matings between A. d. ravitergum and A. d. ignigularis.

Anolis scriptus- An Archipelagic Anole

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On August 15, 2011

In Notes from the Field

Though they are not as flashy as some of their West Indian relatives, Anolis scriptus, the Southern Bahamas Anole, is an ecologically important and interesting component of the herpetofauna of the distal end of the Bahamas Archipelago. Small and brown to brownish green, they seem to be rarely photographed or discussed, so I thought they deserved a post on Anole Annals. These are individuals from the Turks and Caicos Islands- where they are ubiquitous on most emergent land- from the largest islands at over 290 square km to the smallest rocks with some vegetation. Interestingly, this species has been shown to modify its perch height in response to the presence of predators (more on predation in a later post). When curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephalus psammodromus) are around, the anoles are more arboreal (Smith 1994;1995). However, we have found this to be the case mostly on smaller islands, while on larger islands the anoles will still use the ground and lower tree trunks, even in close proximity to high densities of curly-tailed lizards.

Stills from Anole Fight Along the Rio Bani!

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On August 13, 2011

In Notes from the Field

These stills are of an anole fight we saw yesterday along the Rio Bani. This fight happened on a rock between two male Anolis distichus ravitergum. On the left, the two males are facing off. In the middle, one male is charging and biting the other. On the right, the two are tumbling down the boulder. Shea Lambert recorded the video and plans to post a version with slow-motion and music sometime soon; it should be epic.

Crossing the Rio Bani in Search of Anolis distichus

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On August 9, 2011

In Notes from the Field

In the Dominican Republic, there are few anole hunting localities more famous than the Recodo Road, a road running along the Rio Bani just west of Bani (you can get some background on this locality from several previous blog posts 1, 2, 3).  Anthony Geneva, Shea Lambert, and I arrived here on Sunday to continue our studies of speciation in the distichus species group.  One feature of this road familiar to anyone who’s visited are the river crossings that are necessitated by the absence of bridges.  With a 4×4, these crossings are a piece of cake when the water is low, but completely impossible when  the water is high.  After a recent tropical storm, both of the two required crossings are on the verge of uncrossability.  We made it through the first one (see photos above), but have decided to hold off on attempting the second until the river settles a bit more.  Note the beautiful Kapok (Ceiba) tree at the first crossing, which is one of the oldest and most beautiful native trees in the region (it’s also from a genus with rather remarkable transatlantic dispersal capabilities [Dick et al. 2007]).  More soon on the lizards we’re seeing so far!

Hedges Haiti Expedition Music Video; Or How Does It Feel To Find A Species Not Seen In 26 Years?

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On August 4, 2011

In Notes from the Field

Watch Miguel Landestoy kiss Anolis darlingtoni! (at 1:39 on the video)

Hedges Team Rediscovers Anolis darlingtoni

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On August 2, 2011

In Anoles and Anolologists in the News, Natural History Observations, New Research, Notes from the Field

Image of Anolis darlingtoni from http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/evolution/A-Long-Lost-Lizard-is-Found-in-Haiti.html

Last week, Blair Hedges led a team of scientists, journalists and naturalists on a helicopter tour of some of the most remote forested habitats remaining on Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula.  For anole enthusiasts, this expedition’s most remarkable find was the rediscovery of Anolis darlingtoni, an enigmatic species that hasn’t been seen since 1984.  As reported by Faye Flam at Philly.com, expedition member Miguel Landestoy spotted a single animal sleeping around 2m up in a tree fern.  This seems to have been the only darlingtoni recovered by the expedition, but full trip details are still filtering in.

Even with this rediscovery, Anolis darlingtoni remains the rarest anole on Hispaniola, and the one that is the most immediate danger of extinction.  Luke Mahler and I went to a great deal of trouble to search for A. darlingtoni in remnant forests at the western end of the Tiburon Peninsula a few years ago and came up empty, so I know that finding this species is no easy feat.  My congratulations to Blair, Miguel, and the rest of the team!

Orange sagrei

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On July 29, 2011

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

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.

In Quest of Phenacosaurus

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On July 29, 2011

In Notes from the Field

Phenacosaurus heterodermus (photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sngcanary/4207771662/)

“Among the strange and varied production of the high Andes is a small assemblage of grotesque, big-headed, short-legged, prehensile-tailed lizards: the genus Phenacosaurus.” 

So starts Skip Lazell’s (1969) taxonomic revision of the three species in the anoline genus Phenacosaurus. Since that time, there have really been only two developments in phenac world. First, phylogenetic studies have conclusively demonstrated that phenacosaurs represent an evolutionary offshoot within the Dactyloa clade of anoles. As a result, most systematists now consider these species to be members of the genus Anolis, though some diehard romantics/heretics still use Phenacosaurus. Second, the last 40 years have seen a veritable phenaco-population explosion, with 11 species now recognized, and word on the street that more are on the way.

Despite these advances, our knowledge of phenacosaur biology has barely budged since Lazell’s time.

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Anoles In Space

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On July 16, 2011

In Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

The Space Shuttle Atlantis lifting off from the horizon. Fellow lizarders Todd Campbell (L) and Casey Gilman (R) look on.

On July 8, we took a break from field work here in Florida to watch the launch of NASA’s last Space Shuttle mission. During the build up to the launch, I thought a lot about the end of the Shuttle program and of the scientific frontier that we are, at least temporarily, leaving. Naturally, my thoughts eventually turned to whether anoles have ever been to space.

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