Versatile Gizmo

We are very pleased with of our portable laboratory. Below is a series of pictures showing the different places where we have set-up our dewlap holders during this trip. We have had a lot of fun moving from site to site, and I am very proud of the fact that I have designed such a versatile gizmo. Best of all, our species sample size continues to increase with each trip. In the past few weeks we have added three new species to the "color space," which gets us so much closer to our goal of having at least 22 species in our study.

El Verde Field Station, Puerto Rico

Frederiksted Hotel, St. Croix

Parador Boquemar, Boqueron, Puerto Rico

"Gelb Effect" II

Last summer I posted a picture of Anolis lineatopus that illustrated why accounting for transmission is critical when addressing questions related to signal detectability. Considering transmission is particularly important in the case of signals, such as the dewlap, for which transmission contributes greatly to the "perceived" brightness of the signal and the sudden increase in brightness, which is known as the "Gelb Effect". The dewlap of Anolis acutus is also a great example of the "Gelb Effect" as illustrated by the picture below. In A. acutus, the effect is even more dramatic because the white region of the dewlap is at least twice as transmissive as the yellow/orange portion of the dewlap.

Nosy Goat

I have previously posted on the many problems we occasionally face while collecting field data, from poison-wood to swarms of sand-flies.  However, this is the first time that we had a close encounter with a goat. Yes, a G-O-A-T! As seen in the photo below, Elise engaged in hand-to-head combat with a goat that wanted to take a bite out of the spectroradiometer and fiber. After a few tense seconds, Elise was able to keep the animal under control and collect the data.

"Elise vs Goat"

Back to Puerto Rico!

Tomorrow we travel from the island of St. Croix to the El Yunque forest of Puerto Rico. That means so long (for now at least) to Anolis acutus, but an eager return to some other species, including A. evermanni.

As someone who’s seen the dedication & care with which Maria (AKA ‘mama Maria’) tends to the Leal lab lizards at home, I’m excited to report that she will soon receive more evermanni individuals. Once we’re in Puerto Rico again, we hope to collect some to send to her! Among the experimental possibilities, these lizards are likely subjects of future (lab-based) tests of pattern discrimination abilities & color detection. 

A Dissertation Must Be Brewing

Hola from St. Croix. Today we were out collecting habitat spectral data for Anolis acutus. Acutus has a beautiful dewlap, nice body color, and elegant body shape. Such a combination of traits would give bragging rights to any lizard. However, their social structure has my head spinning. As pointed out in a series of papers by Ruibal and Philobosian in the early 1970's, you can easily find multiple males in close proximity -- it is common to see a tree with 5 to 8 males -- and to observe relatively little, if any, fighting. It's quite surprising to see males walking by each other and not witnessing any signs of aggression! Clearly, these guys have not read the chapter on territoriality by J. Stamps!!!! It seems that the time is ripe to revisit some of the ideas proposed by Rubial and Philibosian about A. acutus's relatively "strange" social behavior with a fresh pair of eyes.

"another day at the tree"

Acutus a button

I recently spent a couple of days on the island of St. Croix to capture Anolis acutus, a species endemic to the island and closely related to the trunk-crown anoles of Puerto Rico. It was a great trip, and there were lizards everywhere. I stayed at an organic farm in the "mountains", and, as part of the deal to stay there at a very low price, when I wasn't catching lizards I helped the owners pick fruit and hoe their gardens. I had a good time doing it, and I never had to go to the grocery store! Now I start my last round of sprint trials before heading back to NC.