Category Archives: Natural History Observations

Can You Spot the Sleeping Anole?

Posted on December 8, 2011 by scantlebury

If you can find the sleeping anole in those photo, you will have contributed to cataloging the anole fauna of the Dominican Republic.  Points if you can identify the species.  Hint – the photo was taken on the northern slopes … Continue reading →

Posted in Anole Annals Trivia, Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field | 9 Comments

One Night in Antigua – Photos from a Layover with the Colossus Anolis leachii

Posted on December 7, 2011 by marthamunoz

Sometimes, they say, it’s about the journey, not the destination. This makes me think of exciting layovers I’ve had in Anolis country. At any place where the layover is long enough to permit stepping outside of the airport, I like … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics from the Literature, Natural History Observations | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

White Nose Fungus? Or Just Shed Skin?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Yoel Stuart

I’ve noticed that many of the anoles in my breeding colony occasionally have white protuberances emerging from their nostrils, like the two-month old hatchling to the left. I haven’t been able to determine whether these protuberances are the remnants of … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field | 11 Comments

Not All Embryos are Created Equal

Posted on December 3, 2011 by thsanger

The pages of Anole Annals were recently graced with beautiful photos of Anolis embryos (here), their allure attracting attention from far and wide (here). Unfortunately, development doesn’t always go according to plan. While slight perturbations to development can create fodder … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field | 2 Comments

Staged Anole Fights on YouTube?

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Rich Glor

Fights among anoles are fairly common in nature, and we’ve had several previous posts documenting anole fights captured on film (1, 2, 3, 4).  A casual browsing of YouTube reveals many more anole fights, mostly between male Anolis carolinensis (1, 2, … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field | 4 Comments

Anolis Warfare – Pictures of an Epic Battle in Guadeloupe

Posted on December 2, 2011 by marthamunoz

Ali versus Frazier. Athens versus Sparta. Harry Potter versus Voldemort. History has had it share of epic battles, many of which we have documented on the Anole Annals, such as here and here. In my humble opinion, however, none of … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 7 Comments

Anole-Hummingbird Interactions

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Ambika Kamath

Several posts on this blog (here and here and here) have reported interactions between birds and our favourite lizards, most of which have involved predation (but see here). Here’s a slightly different twist on the theme. Boal (2008), in a paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 3 Comments

Skeletal Anomolies – Curious Case of the Asymmetrical Sacrum

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Em Sherratt

Back in September, we saw an Anolis carolinensis with a bizarre skeletal anomaly, the zig-zag tail. Several readers commented that this was quite a common trait, especially among captive lizards. I wanted to continue this theme with a curious Anolis … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 7 Comments

Curly Tail Lizard Attempts to Consume Anole

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Rich Glor

Anole Annals has a long, gut-wrenching history of posting photographs of our favorite lizards being consumed (or at least partially consumed) by other organisms, including snakes (1, 2, 3), birds (1, 2, 3), other anoles (1, 2), a frog, a spider, … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 8 Comments

More on Anoles Playing Dead, and a Lizard That Loves Watermelon

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

In response to recent discussion of dead-playing anoles, AA‘s French connection Ludovic recently brought to our attention a video of an A. coelestinus doing the same, while floating in a sink. And as an extra treat, Youtube then directed the … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 3 Comments

Juvenile Feeding Behavior

Posted on November 6, 2011 by Yoel Stuart

Over the past 6 weeks or so, I’ve been spending a lot of time caring for  Anolis carolinensis hatchlings as part of my common garden experiment. One of the most striking things that I’ve noticed about these growing lizards is … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, Notes from the Field | 6 Comments

Brown Anole Dewlapping at a Much Larger Predator: Why?

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

Most anole watchers have experienced the phenomenon of walking up to an anole and having it display. What good could come of displaying to a potential predator thousands of times more massive? In a perceptive experiment, Leal suggested that anoles … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, New Research | 2 Comments

Anole Vs. Egret

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

This image is bouncing around the internet, and I can’t find any information on its origin, but it looks like an anole to me. Valiant last ditch effort, but I think we all know the outcome.

Posted in Natural History Observations | 1 Comment

Turnabout’s Fair Play

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

A few weeks back, we reported the death of an anole at the hands–er, pedipalps–of a spider. Now Janson Jones reports the opposite. More generally, we know that spiders are a very common prey item in the diet of many … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 1 Comment

Anole Action Series

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

Need a dose of live lizard action? Why not check out the long-running series, Anole Alley, on lizardvideos.com? Now in its fourth season, with an all-star cast of green anoles (maybe browns, too–I haven’t watched all that many of them). … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 1 Comment

Thin Snakes Eat Big Anoles

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

The blunt-headed treesnake, Imantodes cenchoa, is renowned for its anolivory, but being a pencil thin snake, one might have thought that its carnage would be limited to the smaller members of anole nation. Not so, as two Natural History Notes … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, New Research | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Orange Anolis in South Florida

Posted on October 12, 2011 by sleepinggecko

New minor color variants appear every once in a while, but it’s always interesting to find something completely different.  This, to the best of my knowledge, is something completely different.  I’ve found a few of these guys running around, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Ask the Experts, Introduced Anoles, Natural History Observations | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Have You Seen Anoles Play Dead?

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

John Phillips and Kirsten Nicholson report in Herpetological Review (42:426-427) observations on A. laeviventris and A. cupreus. To wit: “Upon capture, the individuals struggled to escape the grasp of one of the authors (JGP), and then suddenly went limp without further … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations, New Research | 12 Comments

Cleaner Birds Removing Parasites From Anoles?

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

Brian Langerhans, he of mosquitofish fame (but with some anole credentials, such as here  and here), writes from Raleigh, NC: A strange interaction was observed this morning and I’m wondering if you know what’s going on. There are a number … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Anole Done In By a Black Widow

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Jonathan Losos

This sad photo comes to us courtesy of arachnologist extraordinaire Sarah Crews, who snapped the unfortunate little lizard (or fortunate spider, depending on your perspective) in Parque del Este in the Dominican Republic. The offending spider is a member of … Continue reading →

Posted in Natural History Observations | 4 Comments