Lizard Motion Detection Gizmo. Read all about it at http://chipojolab.blogspot.com/2012/05/motion-detection.html
We all know that anoles have a keen sense of vision. But how much does an insect have to move to draw a lizard’s attention? And do species vary in their sensory abilities? Dave Steinberg of Duke University is in Puerto Rico, trying to find out.
Anolis smaragdinus
Picture this: I’m walking back to my room in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas and as I approach the building, a green anole (A. smaragdinus) that was on the side of the fence enclosing the air conditioner (marked x) runs down the fence to the sidewalk, then hightails it on the sidewalk–legs cycling furiously–running straight towards me. It gets to the palm tree just before I do, then dashes furiously up to the top of the palm tree. What a sight! I could read it in his eyes–“gotta’ get to that tree before that big lunkhead does. Gotta’ run, fast, fast fast.” Didn’t anyone tell him he’s not terrestrial? Couldn’t he have just run up the building wall?
The escape route
Photos of anole fights from previous posts by Martha Munoz and Jonathan Losos.
We’ve had a number of posts on anole combat at Anole Annals, many of which have featured fantastic photos (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) or videos (1, 2, 3). I’m sure there are lots more cool anole fight photos out there, so this seems like an ideal theme for a new Anole Annals photo contest! Use the comments to submit photos of anole combat. The winner will get a featured post and the admiration of Anole Annals readers. Previously posted images are eligible. The deadline for submissions will be next Friday (June 1st) and I’ll post at least one reminder between now and then.
Martha Munoz hard at work in the lab of George Bakken at Indiana State University
Martha Muñoz recently posted on the development of methods to study lizard ecophysiology and her visit to Indiana State University to visit the lab of Dr. George Bakken to make copper lizard models. Turns out that Martha is now a celebrity in Terre Haute, and the ISU Newsroom has just written a very nice article about Martha, George, and anoles.
Bora Zivkovic, Blog Editor at Scientific American, has named Anole Annals “Blog of the Week.” Congratulations to us! Here’s what the very perceptive Zivkovic had to say on his site, A Blog Around the Clock:
“For the greatest portion of the history of biology, every organism was a “model organism.” One would pick a problem and then choose which organism would be most suited for answering those particular questions. Then, in the 1990s, everyone jumped onto the bandwagon of studying just a handful of organisms that could be genetically modified at the time: mouse, fruitfly, thale cress, zebrafish, African clawed frog, bread mold, brewer’s yeast, or E. coli. All the other organisms were all but abandoned, only studied by a small number of die-hard researchers and, increasingly, amateurs. Now that technology allows us to investigate (and to some extent manipulate) entire genomes of almost any species we’d like, researchers are going back and rediscovering the abandoned model organisms once again. One of these is Anolis, a large group of species of lizards, noted for their dewlaps, and known especially for their fast adaptive radiation on tropical islands.
And now there is a blog that covers everything about these lizards – Anole Annals. Posts are written both by veteran researchers and their students, from several laboratories, as well as other contributors. They cover both recent and historical papers on evolution, ecology, biogeography, behavior, physiology, biomechanics and genetics of this diverse group of reptiles. They also describe their own research, including anecdotes and adventures from field work, equipment they use in the lab, and successes in discovery. On top of that, they help people ID the species from pictures, pay attention to the appearance of anoles in art and in the popular culture and generally have a lot of fun doing all of this. A blog entirely devoted to just one group of animals sounds very ‘niche,’ but what they did was build a blog that has something for everyone and is a great fun (as well as insightful and educational) read for everyone.”
The photos (and photographer) do not do it justice, but I wanted to share pictures of this beautifully colored red-orange female sagrei. I’m hoping the next generation produces even more vibrant specimens.
Editor’s Note: Anole Annals has had a number of posts on orange sagrei.
Few anole species have been responsible for as much taxonomic confusion as the widespread Amazonian species Anolis chrysolepis. It wasn’t even until 2008 that taxonomists decided once and for all that this species should be called A. chrysolepis (Duméril & Bibron 1837), rather than A. nitens (Wagler 1830) (Mayer 2008 successfully petitioned for recognition of A. chrysolepis on the grounds that Wagler’s Draconura nitens was a nomen dubium due to the absence of a holotype and an exceptionally vague 4-line description and locality [“America”]).
Largely because of its broad range and remarkable geographic variation in size, shape, and coloration, Anolis chrysolepis has attracted the attention of herpetologists for generations.
AA previously has had posts on the new project in Puerto Rico to examine the effect of global warming on anoles and other critters. Now the project has a spiffy new website, well worth a look.
Luisa Otero, a team member on the project, gives us the backstory:
“Almost a year ago I started working as a Research Assistant in a Project titled “Vulnerability of Tropical Ectotherms to Climate Warming.” Until then, I had been planning to do my master’s degree studying sex determination within nests of hawksbill sea turtles here in Puerto Rico. However, after spending almost a whole month during the summer in the field working with Dr. George Gorman, Prof. Raymond Huey, Prof. Bradford Lister, and Prof. Paul Hertz, I began to question my research interests…. And what can I say? I just fell for lizards!
The main aim of the lizard project is to evaluate whether climate warming here in Puerto Rico during the last decades has caused changes in the thermal biology, reproduction cycles, and ecological interactions of anoles. The approach involves comparing contemporary field patterns with those collected during the 70’s and 80’s by the investigators mentioned above.
A couple of weeks ago we published a website with information about the project, and now we would like to share it with you all. We will use this website to share our findings as well as those of related studies of tropical organisms.”
What is this odd-looking fellow?
A friend of mine wanted to know what anole species this was invading the southeastern U.S., and whether it was a threat to the green anole, Anolis carolinensis. Of course, it is nothing more than a large green anole, but it shows how transformed they are when they become agitated. The enlarged dorsal crest on the neck–bright green–and the black spot behind the eye–classic signs of a male engaged in an aggressive confrontation. Understandable how someone could have mistaken it for a different species.
Ten days after this male anole proudly displayed from his perch he was observed in a more violent struggle to maintain his territory with a different challenger, all while a female observes from a lofty distance. Link to slide show of complete sequence:
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