Tag: Dominican Republic

#DidYouAnole – Anolis cybotes

On June 24, 2021

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.

#DidYouAnole? – Anolis landestoyi

By Chelsea Connor

On March 11, 2021

In All Posts

Photo by Miguel Landestoy

Hello, it’s me your favourite PhD student!
If you don’t follow me on Twitter I was celebrating getting into a PhD program last week. I’m still really excited but the anoles wait for no one and I found an anole I really like so I’m here to pass this knowledge on to you.

This week’s anole is Anolis landestoyi, another chameleon-like anole, and closely related to the anoles of the chamaeleonides clade of Cuba.

These anoles, found in the forest of the Dominican Republic, have an SVL of 122-135 mm and short tails. Similar to the chamaeleonides anoles, they have large heads, though not quite as large as the snail-eating anoles.

How a Well-Hidden Giant Got Uncovered: the Discovery of a New Anole Species from Hispaniola - Anole Annals
Photo: Miguel Landestoy

Anolis landestoyi is a mossy green in colour with spotches of brown, giving it a similar appearance to tree bark covered in the lichen or moss that are abundant in its range. Males have a pale coloured dewlap with some light blue and white stripes, while females have smaller slightly lighter coloured dewlaps. Like other chameleon-like anoles, their diet includes various species of arthropods, but no mention of snails sadly.

Anolis landestoyi (2 of 2) [image] | EurekAlert! Science News
Photo: Miguel Landestoy

Evolution 2019: Patterns of Morphological and Physiological Variation of Hispaniolan Anoles

By Kristin Winchell

On June 27, 2019

In New Research

We all know that the anoles of the Caribbean partition the habitat based on structural environment and microclimate, leading to patterns of correlated morphology and habitat use within these ecomorphs. While we know a substantial amount about the morphological aspect of the ecomorph concept, many questions remain concerning the patterns of physiological trait evolution across Caribbean anoles and how this relates to habitat use and ecomorphology.

Brooke Bodensteiner, a PhD student in the Muñoz lab at Virginia Tech, is digging into this topic for her doctoral research. In her presentation at Evolution 2019, Brooke told us about two key questions she is attempting to address in her research: (1) Do ecomorphs overlap in physiological trait space or do they neatly differentiate into distinct groups as they do with morphology? and (2) Do thermal traits evolutionarily respond to the same microhabitat predictors?

Brooke measured thermal physiology of anoles in the Dominican Republic, including Anolis cybotes, shown here.

Brooke is investigating these questions in Hispaniolan anoles and has so far sampled 28 of the 41 species found in the Dominican Republic with representatives from all 6 ecomorphs! The Hispaniolan anoles are particularly good for this research topic since there are representatives of each ecomorph in very diverse habitats islandwide, providing many opportunities for physiological diversification. Building on a large dataset of morphological traits, Brooke collected thermal physiology data from all 28 of these species including critical thermal minimum and maximum and preferred temperature, to try to understand the patterns of physiological diversification and how they are correlated with morphological diversification.

Brooke’s results were fascinating, but more complex and nuanced than expected. Consequently, we will only tell you that her findings are intriguing and will give us a lot to ponder regarding patterns of correlated trait evolution and environmental factors driving physiological evolution. I look forward to seeing the finalized results published soon!