Hello,
A friend sent me some photos of this female anole he found in Limón Indanza, in the Morona-Santiago Province of Ecuador.
Any ideas on a possible species? I know it is not as easy as with a photo of a male.
It’s not anoles but at least it’s about convergent evolution!
A recent study by Damien Esquerre and Scott Keogh published in Ecology Letters found that pythons and boas, the two famous constrictor snake families, have evolved convergent head shapes. The study was based on over 1,000 specimens and including most of the species. Pythons and boas that occupy the same micro-habitat or ecology (i.e. arboreal, terrestrial, semi-aquatic, semi-fossorial) look more like each other than to other snakes in their own family. This is exciting because it highlights how important ecology and adaptation is in shaping biological diversity.
Abstract:
Pythons and boas are globally distributed and distantly related radiations with remarkable phenotypic and ecological diversity. We tested whether pythons, boas and their relatives have evolved convergent phenotypes when they display similar ecology. We collected geometric morphometric data on head shape for 1073 specimens representing over 80% of species. We show that these two groups display strong and widespread convergence when they occupy equivalent ecological niches and that the history of phenotypic evolution strongly matches the history of ecological diversification, suggesting that both processes are strongly coupled. These results are consistent with replicated adaptive radiation in both groups. We argue that strong selective pressures related to habitat-use have driven this convergence. Pythons and boas provide a new model system for the study of macro-evolutionary patterns of morphological and ecological evolution and they do so at a deeper level of divergence and global scale than any well-established adaptive radiation model systems.
Reference:
Esquerré, D & J S Keogh. 2016. Parallel selective pressures drive convergent diversification of phenotypes in pythons and boas. Ecology Letters, 19(7): 800-809.
If you have a truly outstanding memory or if you enjoy re-reading old AA articles, you might remember this post on how bolder lizards autotomized their tails more readily to compensate for risky behavior. As unlikely as it is, you might also remember me saying that this study solved one piece of the puzzle by explaining why the propensity of tail autotomy would vary within a population. Two years have since gone by, and I am glad to present to you, my fellow AA readers, another piece of the puzzle: how ecology might shape the variation in tail autotomy among populations.
A side-blotched lizard couple snuggling (or more accurately, avoiding human nuisance that was the researcher)
Which aspects of ecology should we be looking at? Fortunately, the rich literature in tail autotomy helped us identify three main players: predation, food abundance and male-male fighting. Among these three ecological factors, the relevance of predation is the most straightforward: lizards will benefit from autotomizing more readily if predation pressure is high. On the other hand, the importance of food abundance lies in the fact that lizards need resources to grow the tails back, and the rate of regeneration depends on food abundance. Therefore, high food abundance will allow for faster regeneration and likely favors higher propensities for tail autotomy. The inclusion of male-male fighting as a key factor stems from the common observation that the tail is a common target for attack when males engage in territorial combats. In fact, quite a few studies have reported tail autotomy as a consequence of male-male fightings. As fights between males are rarely life-threatening (i.e. autotomy-worthy), tail autotomy under those circumstances would be undesirable. Consequently, environments in which male–male combat is common should favor lower autotomy propensities, with other things being equal.
To test these hypotheses, we first built a theoretical model in which we simultaneously varied predation, food abundance and the degree of male-male fighting and examined the propensity for tail autotomy that conferred the highest survival. Results from the model supported our hypotheses: higher predation and higher food abundance favored higher autotomy propensities, whereas higher intensities of male-male fighting favored the opposite. We then took one further step: we collected data on these three factors from five populations of side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) in the western U.S. and used our model to explain the variation in the propensity for tail autotomy among those populations. It turned out that our model did a pretty good job, and we are confident that the variation in tail autotomy at the population level represents the outcome of ecological adaptations to predation, food abundance and male-male competition.
Are you wondering which of the three factors played the most important role in determining the propensity for tail autotomy (hint: it was NOT predation!)? Are you interested in more details about how we actually constructed the model? If so, you might want to give our recent paper a read:
CHI-YUN KUO and DUNCAN J. IRSCHICK. (2016). Ecology drives natural variation in an extreme antipredator trait: a cost-benefit analysis integrating modelling and field data. Functional Ecology 30: 953-963. doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.12593
While doing some local herping for fun this weekend with a couple of friends visiting from out of town (Janson Jones of previous AA fame; 1,2,3,4,5), we happened upon this Cuban knight anole (Anolis equestris) with a fairly conspicuous hole in its dewlap. Despite this, the lizard appeared in prime condition. Other reports of strange dewlaps have been documented on AA before, such as these grey-dewlapped Puerto Rican crested anoles (A. cristatellus) and American green anoles (A. carolinensis), but has anyone ever seen any individuals with tissue missing from the core region of the dewlap (as opposed to injuries sustained on the peripheries, such as this Cuban brown anole (A. sagrei), which aren’t generally that uncommon)?
Here’s one example, from an AA post from four years ago.
Christian Perez is currently studying anoles at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. Recently, he found a vine snake. Here’s his report:
As I reached towards the snake, I startled an anole (Anolis limifrons) that was hiding nearby. The snake turned rapidly, looked at the anole, and made movements synchronized with the wind to remain inconspicuous among surrounding vegetation. I stayed with them for a while, and after one failed strike, the snake successfully stalked and caught the anole. The snake took under a minute to consume the lizard, and it was very friendly after its meal.
Also, there is not a single widely supported theory for the snake’s tongue extension when stalking the anole. This is distinct from tongue flickering in other snakes.
Over at Lizards and Friends, Amy Payne from Michele Johnson’s lab reports on her first field experience studying green anoles. Fear not–they kept an eagle eye out for snakes.
On a fleeting one-night stopover in Miami last week, Anthony Geneva had the chance to pop in and say hello at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens and take a morning stroll to view some of the resident anoles (see others posts about Fairchild anoles here: 1,2,3,4). While waiting to be joined by fellow local anolologist and distichus aficionado Winter Beckles (University of Miami), Anthony and I noticed some commotion by the edge of a nearby pond. Upon closer inspection, we realized that a tricolored heron (Egretta tricolor) appeared to be juggling a large anole in it’s mouth! In my morning rush, I had managed to forget not just my anole-catching noose pole, but alas, also my camera. Fortunately, Anthony was on hand to fill the David Bailey role.
After re-positioning the lizard a few times, the heron appeared to do something peculiar – it repeatedly dunked the lizard in and out of the water. This happened perhaps 5-6 times. Was this an attempt to expedite a fatality prior to consumption, or perhaps a neat trick to help lubricate such a large prey item?
In all, the process of ingestion took less than 10 seconds, following a couple of minutes of dunking and repositioning.
This observation follows a recent hot post reporting the predation of anoles by reintroduced whooping cranes (Grus americana) in Louisiana, which itself was preceded by various observations of avian-fuelled anolivory in South Florida (1, 2, 3, 4). Even more recently, while showing Thom Sanger and Bonnie Kircher around Fairchild Gardens a few weeks back, we observed a Cooper’s hawk (Accipiter cooperii), a widely-regarded bird specialist, snatch an American green anole (A. carolinensis) from the frond of a towering Royal Palm (Roystonea regia) – an event Rob Heathcote and I had observed the previous year with an adult male A. cristatellus in nearby Matheson Hammock. Unfortunately none of us were privileged with Anthony’s camera reflexes to capture any of those events.
So, why’s this interesting? (Excluding the obvious natural history enlightenment of revealing, at least personally, a previously unclear predator-prey interaction). Well, tricolored herons are a widespread breeding resident throughout much of the US Gulf states and as far south through the Caribbean to central Brazil and Peru. Therefore, the consumption of crested anoles (A. cristatellus) isn’t necessarily a novel interspecific interaction – it’s possible that this occurs in the native range of A. cristatellus, Puerto Rico, where both exist. However, although tricolored herons are natural residents of South Florida, it would be a tough sell to argue that crested anoles would be naturally on the menu. Crested anoles were first introduced to South Miami in the 1970s – the original site of introduction being a mere stone’s throw from this observation (for a review of the subsequent dispersal patterns of A. cristatellus in Miami see Kolbe et al. 2016; pdf here). So although crested anoles are being exposed to many novel biotic interactions in Miami, it seems they can’t escape some.
Have any Puerto Rico anolophiles observed this interaction before?
A smug bird.
Here are a pair of anoles photographed by Mitchell Robinson in Jacmel, Haiti. He is looking for help identifying them, and where better to look for such help than Anole Annals?
We have ideas about the IDs, but would like to hear from you experts before imposing any potential bias. Thanks for any help!
John
In my science lab with my little green friend. This photo will actually be on the back cover of my upcoming book!
As a regular reader of Anole Annals and a subscriber to the Twitter feed, I am honored to have the opportunity to write this post. For those who might remember, I am the elementary school science teacher in Princeton, NJ who made international news (and a mention on Anole Annals) when one of my kindergarten students brought me a juvenile Anolis carolinensis that her mother found in a bundle of salad greens. I am happy to report that “Green Fruit Loop” is still doing well in a spacious terrarium, and I have considered the logistics of returning her to the wild once she’s fully grown. Of course, from what I’ve been reading about her place of origin (south Florida), I’ll have to make sure I find a spot with tall trees, to make sure she has refuge from Anolis sagrei.
I’ve gotten into the habit of referring to Green Fruit Loop as a “she,” but perhaps an anole specialist could make an accurate determination?
My students continue to be enthralled with our surprise classroom companion, and I have been considering ways to include these children in a scientific investigation on color change. We have a second terrarium of adopted Anolis carolinensis (my momentary fame made me a magnet for unwanted pets), and even though I have told my students that anoles don’t assume specific colors to blend in with their backgrounds, this group was almost exclusively green when housed with plants, but since a fungal disease eliminated all vegetation over the winter, these anoles now remain perpetually brown among the rocks and woodwork.
Green Fruit Loop definitely doesn’t look green here!
These observations, which my students have used as evidence that Carolina anoles do, in fact, change color to camouflage (contrary to what their teacher tells them), have prompted me to consider a long-term study, in which several basking platforms will be painted different colors and anoles that use them will be photographed at multiple intervals per day. For example, one platform might be green, one brown, one white, and one black, and a camera on a timer will take photographs of each platform hourly. We could then compare these photographs over time, determine which individuals are exhibiting certain colors on certain platforms, and possibly draw conclusions from what we observe. I recently obtained a grant from the American Society of Plant Biologists to build two large habitats for tropical plants, so this would be an ideal location to house additional groups of anoles for this experiment to proceed.
If anybody has suggestions for the colors and materials that we might use for basking platforms (I am planning on four per habitat, each under its own light), as well as any possible modifications to this experiment for greater scientific merit, please feel free to comment on this post or write to me at memarkeastburn@gmail.com. Of course, animal welfare is always the highest priority in any of my educational projects, and my group of adopted anoles will never be housed with any field-collected specimens (like Green Fruit Loop) to minimize possible spread of parasites and disease.
Once this experiment gets going, please check in and see what my students are learning on Twitter @markeastburn or at my website http://www.teacherturtles.com. Thank you for reading!
by: Wendy Jesse and Hannah Madden
The Lesser Antillean island of Saba (Caribbean Netherlands) harbors a unique anole species, Anolis sabanus, of which the males are easily distinguishable by their striking skin pattern. This endemic species is the only anole species found on the island, but is abundant within its native range of only 13 km2. Last April, a male individual was found outside of Saba on the neighboring island of St. Eustatius (Caribbean Netherlands) marking the first ever recorded exotic introduction of Anolis sabanus.
Anolis sabanus (Saban anole). Source: The Reptile Database.