Photo: GotCritters, iNaturalist
Hello!
Thanks for sticking around while I did Black Birders Week planning, events and follow ups. I hope you were able to take part and check out the week. If not, we’ve archived the recordings and they all live somewhere on the internet which we’ve conveniently collected for you over on our website BlackAFinSTEM.com.
Now, for the anoles.
It’s funny how I accidentally did an anole this one is commonly mistaken for twice, but haven’t actually talked about it yet. But, Anolis cybotes is this week’s anole.
Commonly known as the large-headed/largehead anole because the males have really big heads (creative, I know), or the Hispaniolan stout anole, these lizards are native to Hispaniola and small neighbouring islands, but have been introduced to Suriname and everyone’s favourite state, Florida. Largehead anole males can have an SVL of ~65-70mm and females, ~52-60mm. Like many other stout brown patterned anoles, they’re also of the trunk-ground ecomorph and are territorial as adults.
Photo: Christian Nunes, iNaturalist
Male largehead anoles have a dirty white dewlap with no patterning, an easy way to tell them apart from the similarly coloured A. sagrei (red-orange dewlap), and A. cristatellus (yellow and orange dewlap). If you are able to take a closer look at its head in comparison with others, you should also be able to notice the blocky shape and size it got its name for.
Photo: GotCritters, iNaturalist
Anolis cybotes haa been studied with another similar sympatric anole, A. marcanoi, to see if anoles can recognise each other and other species by dewlap, which you can read here.
PS: It’s Pride Month and I am one of 23 scientists featured in the New Science Exhibit at Cal Academy; it’s also virtual so you can check it out here.