Tag: Anolis carolinensis

Anolis carolinensis, 15 September 2011. Residential Valdosta, Georgia

After living much of my life in the anole-saturated forests and neighborhoods of central Florida, somewhere beneath the Spanish Moss, I lived and worked in Anchorage, Alaska for four years. Other than the occasional wood frog, Rana sylvatica, my interactions with reptiles and amphibians were, of course, somewhat diminished… (Plenty of moose, though. Oh yes, plenty of moose. And dogs. Lots and lots of dogs.)

Anolis carolinensis, 02 August 2011. Residential Valdosta, Georgia.

This past summer I returned to the American southeast with my family — specifically to Valdosta, Georgia. Since returning, I’ve been struck by the density of Carolina green anoles and the lack of Cuban brown anoles, Anolis sagrei. In central Florida A. sagrei is ubiquitous these days. It’s hard to find a yard where they don’t dominate the trunk-ground area. In Valdosta, however, I have yet to positively identify a single Anolis sagrei (I’ve been told by locals they are here, but in isolated pockets). My little corner of south Georgia seems to be A. carolinensis territory in most every way, every day.

Indeed, I am seeing a strong and robust number of Carolina greens hanging out low to the ground, not just in the trunks and trunk-crowns. They’re on the bushes, they’re on the screens, they’re on the grass, and they’re even on the sidewalks and driveways. Low-riders, I call them — the Carolina greens riding the ground-level, juveniles and adults.

In a way, moving to Valdosta, Georgia feels a bit like time travel. It feels like central Florida circa the mid-1980s, minus the NASCAR fetish, back when I was a hairy little rugrat chasing green anoles through my Volusia county backyard while jamming Devo on my twelve-pound Sony cassette walkman. I’d nearly forgotten what Carolina greens are like without the presence of Cuban brown anoles and scattered Star Wars action figures in the grass… but what’s been most startling is the number of green anoles I’ve seen low-riding — basking on pavement, hanging out on concrete, scampering around fallen pine needles and leaves. Given their trunk-crown ecomorphology and the dominance of Cuban brown anoles in Florida, I wasn’t prepared to see so many Carolina greens surfing the ground. Is it a seasonal climate (heat) pattern? Not sure. Time will tell and I’ll keep watching.

It’s unlikely I’ll try to get these green anoles to bite my earlobes and wear them as jewelry like I did circa 1982 (the shame!), but I am enjoying this relative sense of time-travel. I also wonder when A. sagrei will make it up here in force — and push these greens back up into the trunk-crown, if ever.

~ janson

Anolis carolinensis, 31 August 2011. Grand Bay WMA; Valdosta, Georgia

The Good Life For Green Anoles: Where No Browns Occur

By Jonathan Losos

On August 2, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Brown phase green anole. Photo by Janson Jones at Dust Tracks on the Web (http://dusttracks.com/)

At Dust Tracks on the Web, Janson Jones posts some interesting observations on green anoles (A. carolinensis) in northern Florida and southern Georgia, where the brown anole (A. sagrei) has yet to invade. To cut to the chase, he finds the green anoles to be larger, to be brown more often, and to perch much lower than green anoles do in central Florida in the presence of brown anoles.

The effect of brown anoles on greens in Florida has been surprisingly poorly documented. Just as surprisingly, very little information exists in the scientific literature on the habitat use, behavior, and other aspects of green anole natural history in places where they occur by themselves. We have almost no useful data on what green anole biology was like in Florida pre-sagrei, nor few data from areas where sagrei does not occur today. Detailed and quantitative studies of such populations would be particularly useful, as well as repeated surveys through time in areas that brown anoles may eventually invade to document what happens when they get there (of course, repeated surveys in areas that brown anoles don’t invade would be important to, as controls). Those of you who live in appropriate areas, get to it!

Carolinensis – Sagrei Hanky Panky

By Jonathan Losos

On July 25, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Those rascals! I’ve heard reports of this before, but never seen a photo. I wonder if it’s always a male green anole, or whether both ways occur. In any case, it would be shocking if such liaisons led to the production of hybrid offspring, given that the two species belong to evolutionary lineages that separated many many millions of years ago.

Anole Research Cleans Up on Awards at JMIH

By Rich Glor

On July 13, 2011

In New Research

A figure illustrating dewlap color variation in the distichus species group from Anthony Geneva's award winning poster.

Two posters on anole evolution presented at JMIH last weekend were honored with SSAR poster awards. Anthony Geneva, a PhD student at the University of Rochester took home the prize in the Evolution, Genetics, & Systematics category for his poster on “A Multi-locus Molecular Phylogeny of Distichoid Anoles.” Mingna Zhuang, an undergraduate researcher at UC Berkeley, won in the Ecology, Natural History, Distribution, & Behavior category for her poster on “Comparative Gliding Performance of Anolis carolinensis and Anolis sagrei.” Although not on anoles, it also bears noting that Daniel Scantlebury’s study of adaptive radiation in Sphaerodactylus – which has been inspired partly by work on Anolis – won the SSAR’s Henri Seibert Award for best student talk on Evolution/Systematics. Congrats to Anthony, Mingna, and Dan!

JMIH 2011: More Anole Posters

By Rich Glor

On July 12, 2011

In New Research

The Sunday night poster session at JMIH 2011 had a few more anole offerings. Melissa Moody from Iowa State reported on a laboratory experiment on the developmental and fitness consequences of varying Anolis sagrei egg incubation temperature and humidity. Anolis sagrei eggs seem relatively robust to the variation experienced during this experiment. Paul Cupp of Eastern Kentucky University asked whether ground skinks (Scincella lateralis) and green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) could detect chemical deposits from the Eastern Milk Snakes (Lampropeltis triangulum); he found evidence that the skinks could detect these deposits while the anoles could not. Finally, Mingna Zhuang discussed comparative gliding performance of Anolis carolinensis and Anolis sagrei. She found that A. carolinensis is a considerably better glider, perhaps due to the fact that it has a flatter gliding posture than A. sagrei.

Strange perch mate

By Joe Burgess

On June 16, 2011

In New Research, Notes from the Field

Anoles in Florida really have to deal with some strange neighbors. You just never know who is going to move in next door. Giant day geckos are rapidly expanding their range in the Fla Keys and use a variety of perch sites and heights including manmade structures. This of course brings them in contact with all species of Anolis occurring there. I enjoyed watching this interaction… The A.carolinensis/porcatus was really troubled with the invader, using the entire repertoire of his display skills. The gecko (Phelsuma grandis) which was at least three times the mass of the anole, only seemed slightly hesitant to continue to the crown of the tree. Once there the anole displayed for several minutes trying to influence the gecko out of his small palm. Perhaps one day they will learn each others language.

A Primer on Filming Anole Behavior – Part 1

By Justin Henningsen

On June 8, 2011

In Notes from the Field, Research Methods

A field assistant, Sarah, films anole behavior in semi-natural enclosures

I’m in the midst of my fourth summer of field work, and over the course of this time, I have spent many hours filming male Anolis carolinensis. I’ve done this work under several conditions; one project involved filming known animals in the field, a second required filming staged encounters between males in the lab, and the final (and current) project has me filming animals in semi-natural enclosures. These experiences prompted me to create this post, which I hope will be useful to anole researchers and enthusiasts who are embarking on projects that involve capturing video of lizards doing the things that fascinate us. Today, I’ll begin with a discussion of cameras and in a later post, I will write about other equipment as well as some of the techniques I’ve employed to capture useful images.

The Camera

The most important piece of equipment.

Anoles, American Style

By Marc Tollis

On May 19, 2011

In Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field

I will admit here that I used to be a little jealous of other anole catchers. This twinge of want was not necessarily due to any perceived greater intellectual merit of the research, nor to collecting successes in terms of sheer numbers of lizards. My envy stemmed from the fact that the stories were exotic, involving international travel to islands in the Caribbean both great and small, where supposedly the anoles practically fall out of the trees and astonish you with their diversity and abundance.

Green anole in Arkansas

I would think to myself how comparatively boring my field work must sound: driving in a blue van with New York plates, weaving across state lines, searching for A. carolinensis, the lone species that lives on the continent — the Drosophila melanogaster of an otherwise thrillingly diverse genus. Can there be a more boring species than a lizard with the word “green” in its common name? Even the folks I meet while traveling in the field hint at mundaneness when I tell them what I am looking for: “Where you really need to look is on my aunt’s patio!” Yes sir, I know they often pop up in the begonias, but will they be there when I need them to be (because they never are)? Plus, I have to be in southern Georgia by tomorrow afternoon so I need anoles from this latitude today!

They Don’t Eat Butterflies, Do They?

By Jonathan Losos

On May 10, 2011

In Natural History Observations

Photo by Larry Ditto. http://kacproductions.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Reptiles-and-others/G0000aYUEKKoWeyY/I00001RHu91IeOnI

Recently, a colleague and I were discussing how university greenhouses could be more profitably used if they were filled with anoles. This led us to discussion of one particular local greenhouse, full of butterflies nattering about for no apparent purpose. I suggested that this would be a particularly good spot to introduce some anoles, because food would be at the ready, but she questioned whether anoles would, indeed, eat butterflies. I claimed they would, and she back-pedaled, stating that surely A. carolinensis at the least was not swift enough for such a feat.

Neither of us knowing the answer, we decided that some research must be done, so quickly moved to the computer. One quick Google Image search proved her wrong on all counts. Above is the most beautiful of the counterpoints, and here is the story that goes with it, from photographer Larry Ditto of McAllen, Texas: “What can I say? I walked out into my front yard where there is a butterfly garden and saw this anole eating a queen. The lizard was climbing an arching trellis with the butterfly in its mouth. I assume it caught the queen as the butterfly fed at one of our mist flowers (there were many other queens nectaring at these plants). I grabbed the camera and made many photos while the anole swallowed its prey.”

NOLA ANOLE

By Gregory C. Mayer

On January 30, 2011

In Notes from the Field

During a visit to New Orleans last month , I came across this little fellow.

Young male Anolis carolinensis, Washington Square, New Orleans, 30 December 2010

He was about 2 feet up on some broad-leaved plants planted around a tree in Washington Park, at the corner of Frenchmen and Royal Streets in Faubourg Marigny, just east of the French Quarter. Here’s an overview of the Square looking east, taken from about where the lizard was found.

Washington Square, New Orleans, 30 December 2010

I was actually a little surprised to find carolinensis, rather than sagrei. Anolis sagrei is well known as a good colonizer, both natural and introduced, and is now known from Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana, with stragglers reported as far north as Virginia. I was once given a tiny baby anole that was caught on a windowsill in Cambridge, Massachusetts (!) that I believe was this species; it had probably arrived as an egg in the soil of a houseplant.