Team Perserverence

Greetings from El Verde—team Anolis gundlachi rides again! I am back at the station to observe the behavior of female A. gundlachi, joined by two fabulous helpers—Jessica and Phil. Phil joins us on a quick break from the Steen Lab at Auburn University. He’s met some A. cristatellus in Miami before, but he is enjoying getting to know some of the other species of anoles Puerto Rico has to offer, as well as many frogs and a whip scorpion! Jessica is our resident Coqui frog expert, and has become quite the lizard catching champion in our short time together. She will be starting a masters in the fall at the University of Rhode Island in the Kolbe lab—hopefully she won’t be tired of anoles yet?!

My team has a serious dose of perseverance this year. We are trying to stage territorial interactions with free living female anoles, and it is proving to be tricky and trying work. Jessica, Phil and I have tromped all over the forest staging trials—kudos to my team for staying in high spirits even when our lizards evade capture! I am thrilled to report that we have 19 successful trials to date. Here’s hoping we are able to move on to collecting some data on males soon!

Phil, Jessica, and Ellee: Fresh from the forest, and only a little damp.

I hope you enjoy the picture of us. This is us, fresh from the forest having encountered a torrential down pour. But have no fear, WE CAUGHT AND SAMPLED OUR LAST LIZARD IN THE POURING RAIN!