Tag: #Didyouanole

#DidYouAnole – Anolis fairchildi

On July 23, 2020

Photo by R. Graham Reynolds

Hey!

It feels like its been more than a week, full of worm drama, but I promise it has not. I wouldn’t leave you without a post that long. Anoles obviously are the best study species.

I thought it would be good to stay in the Bahamas, Cay Sal specifically, with the Cay Sal Anole, Anolis fairchildi.

Photo by Michael Sorenson

These anoles are endemic to Cay Sal; the species is another one in the A. carolinensis series, but is not closely related to our friend, A. smaragdinus. The island is fairly difficult to get to, so not a lot of people have seen these anoles to take pictures (and information) of them, but I did find some. They look very much like some of the other green anoles in this series.

Photo by Alberto R. Puente-Rolon

Look how unimpressed he is. I think this is one of my favourite features of all these anoles.

The Cay Sal Anole can get up to 11.65 g in weight and 75 mm SVL (males). Like their cousins, A. fairchildi has a pink-y dewlap!

If you want to read more, here’s Dr. Reynolds talking about his trip to Cay Sal and finding these anoles (it’s in three parts), and the resulting paper.

This one was pretty short, but that’s why we need more people doing anole research so we can learn more about all of these lizards.

Thanks for reading! I’ve been appreciating your comments as well!

#DidYouAnole – Anolis smaragdinus

By Chelsea Connor

On July 16, 2020

In All Posts

Photo by: Jake Scott

Howdy y’all!

This week we’re going green again with probably one of the best anole names ever (next to apletophallus maybe). It is the trunk-crown anole, Anolis smaragdinus, the Bahamian Green anole.

Quick side note: It appears that some of the authors on this site (Jonathan), disagree about how awesome the name is.

Now it’s name translates to “emerald” from Latin, which is entirely fitting because it is a gorgeous green anole, with a GREEN (sometimes yellow-green) belly. Please forgive me for the gratuitous pictures of smaragdinus. I love a good green anole.

Photo by: Cleo Falvey

Species coexistence in landscapes of fear | Nature Research ...

Like all its cousins it can change that green to drab brown, but it’s face is a bit more pointy and it has a red-orange or deep peach colored dewlap.

Photo by: Emily Powell

And as the name implies, this lizard is from and is endemic to The Bahamas.

There are two recognised subspecies, A. s. smaragdinus and A. s. lerneri. The main differences between them being an axillary (“armpit”) spot that A. s. smaragdinus has, and occasional chin spotting, and then their size. Anolis s. lerneri males are larger, with an SVL of up to 64mm and have a pointier head.

Photo by: Cleo Falvey

The Bahamian Green anole was observed in a study by Dr. Losos and colleagues where they were introduced to a small uninhabited islet that is occasionally (due to the tide) connected to a larger one by a strip of rock. These trunk-crown anoles are rarely found on the ground, but when Dr. Losos and his colleagues returned to the islet, the lizards had dispersed to and colonised the larger islet. This is a really interesting note because arboreal anoles aren’t often, if at all, observed going to ground and traveling to colonise such vegetation.

Bonus! Here’s a very yellow smaragdinus found by James T. Stroud and some more posts about this anole!

James T. Stroud on Twitter: "Bahamian green anole (Anolis ...

#DidYouAnole – Anolis allisoni

By Chelsea Connor

On July 9, 2020

In All Posts

Photo by Humberto Bahena Basave

Hey guys! As an international student and considering what’s happened recently, it’s been tough. But having happy things is really important right now and anoles are exceedingly wonderful lizards, I’m sure we all agree here. So I’m still going to do #DidYouAnole this week because I love doing it.

And we are continuing with the A. carolinensis series.

There are 13 species in this proposed group of anoles and they are all morphologically similar, so we’ve got a few more pointy headed anoles coming up. This week is Anolis allisoni, one of my favourites and it’s because of the blue mostly if I’m being completely honest. Look at it! Most of them look like they’ve been dipped in paint!
(Please don’t dip lizards in paint!)

Photo by Christopher Hampson

Anolis allisoni, also called Allison’s anole or the Blue-Headed anole, is found in Cuba where all anoles in this series are thought to originate from. It’s also found on the Bay Islands and Cayos Cochinos (Honduras), and Half Moon Caye (Belize). And guess where else they’ve been spotted now. I feel like I actually will go to Florida when the world is OK because it seems like 300 of the 436 recognised anole species live there now.

Anolis allisoni is capable of changing from green and blue to brown like A. carolinensis, and pretty quickly too. Only the males have this blue colouring and pink dewlaps, and the amount of blue varies by individual, as well as by population it seems, with those in Honduras having less blue than other locations. Like A. carolinensis, the females have smaller, more proportional heads, but they don’t have the white dorsal stripe that Green anole females tend to. Males typically have an SVL (snout-to-vent length) of 10cm, while the females are about 7-8cm.

Look at that little bit of pale blue on this A. allisoni compared to the intense blue on the first! (Photo by Christian Grenier)

And then this individual has his blue like racing stripes! (Photo by Shea Lambert)

Most female anoles lay their eggs in the dirt, and West Indian anoles follow a reproductive cycle where a period of inactivity aligns just about with colder months (October – February). Anolis allisoni however is one of the six species in Cuba that we know of to have communal nests, where all the females lay their eggs together! How cool is that!

They are also really good at pretending to be grass apparently. Check this older post and see how many you can find. I think I found the 5 Dr. Losos says there should be. For those of you that follow #FindThatLizard, I know Earyn didn’t have a challenge on this Wednesday, so maybe this can help!

Thanks for reading!

#DidYouAnole? – Anolis carolinensis

By Chelsea Connor

On July 2, 2020

In All Posts

Anolis carolinensis, 18 March 2017 – floridensis

Photo by Janson Jones

Hey there!

Welcome to #DidYouAnole on Anole Annals for the first time!
I talk about a new anole every week on Twitter (with really good GIFs) and now here too!

This week’s #DidYouAnole is in collaboration with #GuessThatSkull, so if you want a 3D look at an A. carolinensis skull, check it out!

Last week I talked about Anolis porcatus and that A. carolinensis wasn’t a distinct species, but that’s not its fault and it’s still worthwhile to talk about. Since A. carolinensis was described first, that would mean A. porcatus should become carolinensis. So they’re all A. carolinensis!

The American Green Anole or simply, the Green Anole, gets its name from its colour. As most of us know it’s usually green, but it can change to brown, olive shades, grey and can even be blue!

Green anoles display sexual dimorphism, which is when animals have different features based on their sex. Like peacocks and peahens! Females tend to be smaller and have more proportional heads, have a white stripe down their backs and may have a dewlap that is much smaller than a male’s.
(Juvenile males may also have this dorsal stripe though!)

Wildlife - Green Anole Lizard (Anolis carolinensis) - GeorgiaInfo

Photo by Vicki DeLoach

A lot of people have remarked that their native populations of the Green anole have been disappearing due to the introduction of the Brown anole. While it is entirely possible that its population can be affected by A.sagrei, it’s also very likely that these anoles are just partitioning by habitat. That means that Green anoles (trunk-crown ecomorphs) used to roam freely, but now with another anole around, they’ve moved and further adapted to the trees and the Brown anoles (trunk-ground) stayed on the ground where they prefer and are very visible.

Brown anoles are totally jerks though.

Green anoles have a range of dewlap colours. Most commonly bright red to pink, but some populations in southwestern FL have grey dewlaps and are a subspecies, A. c. seminolus, and some in HI have lilac dewlaps. This has been noted a few times by observers and authors on Anole Annals.
Speaking of which, I’m super excited/scared to bring this to you here on Anole Annals. I love this website. I’ve been in articles on here before and now I get to share my anole fan-girling on here myself!

And speaking of the dewlap colours! I draw anole stickers and my carolinensis sticker is now available in grey, and lilac. And there’s a new anole friend waiting there for you too!

Thanks for reading!!