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Anolis vermiculatus
Photo credit :Jonathan Losos.
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Anoles are interesting. They can
change color, males have attention-getting dewlap displays, they are numerous
at many locations, they are sexually dimorphic, and there are more than 377
species. They come in a variety of sizes; the smallest are less than 40 mm,
while the largest exceeds 500 mm. Because they are diurnal they are easily
observed. All of these traits make them ideal for testing theories about
behavior, ecology, and evolution. In a
recent paper Lourdes Rodriguez Schettino from the Instituto de Ecologıá y
Sistemática, CITMA, in La Habana, Cuba and colleagues report on an
exceptionally diverse anole community in the Sierra del
Rosario, near Soroa in western Cuba. Their study site was a resort, that
included the hotel grounds, shrub hedges, concrete walls, and a grove of Ocuje
trees; as well as more natural habitats that encompassed evergreen forest, gallery
forest, and secondary forest. Soroa supports a community of 25 species of
lizards, 11 of which belong to the Anolis
clade. As in similar studies the anoles of Soroa have divided up the available
habitat and resources, some species specialized in perching on tree trunks, others
on branches, leaves, rocks, the ground, or human constructions. One of the more
unusual species at the site is Anolis
vermiculatus which usually occurs near streams, and perches up to 4 m above
the water. This species has been reported to dive into the water to escape
predators. The Soroa anole community is the richest and most diverse community
studies in detail to date. The authors note that sites in eastern Cuba have
been discovered that support 14 and 15 anole species but they have yet to be
studied, and there may be places in Central America that also have richer anole
faunas than have been previously reported.
Citation
Labels: Anolis, community ecology, Cuba, lizard assemblage