Cuvieri

Greetings from Puerto Rico. Alex & I are hard at work conducting “lab” experiments inside the field station, but we have also had the fortune (and need) to spend some time outdoors. We’ve seen most of the species on the island so far, including the beautiful Anolis cuvieri. Below, you can find a photograph of a pair that was copulating during our dinner a few nights ago. It may be difficult to tell from the picture, but both animals are in pretty bad shape – fresh wounds and scar tissue. In fact, most of the individuals of this species that we’ve encountered look worse for the wear, with multiple injuries, bite marks, and scarring. In my personal opinion, they should take it easy and start trying to enjoy their lives.

And stay tuned for updates regarding the aforementioned experiments! They are moving along & I will post more about them in the coming days ...

The adventures of Anolis carolinensis

The adventures of Anolis carolinensis in Southern Pines, NC

elise k., g-student in the Leal Lab

Location: Weymouth Woods-Sandhills Nature Preserve

Subjects: male and female carolina anoles

Goal: to film their social interactions

~As a potentially useful test of mate recognition systems, wherein former mates recognize each other and base subsequent mating decisions on that ability[1], I sought to study the carolina anole, Anolis carolinensis.

Jenssen & Nunez (1998)[2] have shown us something interesting about this species: A. carolinensis males skip mating opportunities, bypassing females that even signal their apparent receptivity. That is, females arch their necks conspicuously (a maneuver thought to show sexual receptivity) within close viewing distance of the male, who then decides to leave!

‘Tis strange.

To see if these males are discriminating among local females on the basis of recent sexual history (eh hem, maybe these skipped females are previous mates?), I drove to Southern Pines, NC to watch anole behavior. Amid the beautiful long-leaf pine forests here, life isn’t so bad. -->

Except when you regularly lose sight of your study subject as s/he walks 20 ft. up a tree!

Trying to assess the mating behavior of North Carolina anoles has been challenging. Mostly, I have not been able to keep track of individuals to the extent hoped for. But when the bushes do rustle with signs of lizard activity, I’m there! So far I’ve seen some cool interactions, including one copulation lasting 25 minutes (!), and two escalated fights between territorial males (e.g., one male [the Victor] jaw-clenched the other’s head for nearly 10 minutes!)…wish I had that on film to show you.

Male and female A. carolinensis in copula, 5-4-12

Anyway, I thought males might’ve been capable of recognizing females/former mates (and hey, maybe they can!) but I can’t really tell yet if males are bypassing mating opportunities, as has been previously shown for a different population of anoles. Without that cool hook as a foundation, it’s hard to say what would be next for this study plan…

For now, I have 2 more field weeks to try to watch lizards : ) -Will be back to the blog soon!

elise

PS. check out who decided to hitch a ride on this beetle's head, observed in the park today!

an actual beetle-bug car!, 5-17-12

---

[1] IR info: Tibbetts EA & Dale J, 2007 Trends Ecol. Evol. 22:529–537.

[2] Jenssen TA & Nunez SC, 1998 Behaviour 135:981–1003.

Dreams Do Come True

It is official, Ace is ready to fly the coop and we are all helping him to take the leap. My intention was to give him "una patadita de buena suerte" to help him out of the nest, but instead he asked for a BIG kiss. I do realize that leaving the safety net of graduate school can be a daunting task. However, Ace is ready for a new challenge. 

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!! 

The Water Hole

In previous years we have had some difficulties maneuvering the trailer to launch the boat and/or get all the gear (motor, gas tank, ect) from the trunk of the car to the boat. Well finally the ramp has been re-done. Please see above the new boat ramp. The best description I can give is a water hole. My prediction is that there would be a lot of trailers and cars that will end-up at the bottom of the hole (i.e., six to eight feet under water).   

Firing on all cylinders

Today was another busy day at Snake Creek.  Jason and I visited two more islands, Buddy and Y5, and re-visited, 6, 5, 1, and X3. First, the good news: the density of anoles on Buddy is comparable to last year. The same is true for 5 and X3, and possibly 6. The density of 1 is in the low side; we found only eight anoles and three curlies. The news for Y5 are not as positive, after a lot of searching we only found two anoles (one male and one female). I am hopeful that the population size is larger than two, but I would be highly impressed if the population size is bigger than 15.

 

Dave hard at work preparing sticky traps that are used to census insect density and diversity at our study sites.

 

Tom with his paint-gun ready to census anoles at N3, which is one of the islands from the founder experiment.

 

Back In Paradise

The field season for our Bahamas project began yesterday. This is the 5th year of the experiment and our first "real" visit after Hurricane Irene visited this region in August of 2011. As you might recall, the path of Hurricane Irene was directly over Snake Creek. Therefore, we are all extremely anxious to see if Irene had a major impact on the anoles and/or curlies. In general terms there seems to be relatively little damage to vegetation of the islands, however, the densities of both A. sagrei and curlies seem to be down in most of the islands we have visited.  Also, so far there is only one cay (X0) where we have found no lizards.

CONGRATS!!!!

Please welcome the newly minted Dr. Brian "Ace" J. Powell. Brian has successfully defended his dissertation work on the cognitive ecology of anoles. He is so happy that at the moment he is doing his signature dance -- check it out--

To celebrate such a momentous occasion, we all dusted off our finest formal wear...

This is a bitter-sweet moment for the Chipojo Lab. I am extremely happy that Brian was able to complete an ambitious dissertation, one that I am positive will be setting the standard for future work on the cognitive ecology of lizards, and cognition in general. To be clear, this is not a "proud" advisor blowing "hot air" about his first graduate student. If you don’t believe me, please check out our previous blog "Chipojo Lab Goes Viral" or take a look at this short promo for the "Mystery of the Animal Minds" hosted by David Suzuki.

I do have to say, we are going to miss Ace a lot. For my part, I have learned “as I’ve went” about what to do and what not to do as an advisor. It is funny that we get a degree and, if lucky, have the opportunity to train graduate students; but no one provides a course on how to be a successful advisor. This is a “learn on the job”, major responsibility. Ace and I have had many hours of discussion on cognitive ecology and neuroanatomy, which have provided significant insights and direction for how we designed and conducted our work.

Outside academic discussions, Ace was the first to teach me that it is important to pack a lunch when you are in the field all day. I used to survive on Pop-tarts and raisins. However, the first time I took Ace to the field, he would pack a gigantic sandwich and his signature can of Dr. Pepper each day. Furthermore, he would always find a great spot in the forest to enjoy lunch. Two concepts that were not part of my daily fieldwork, and which early on, I felt were a waste of time. He also showed me that it is fine (well, maybe) to relax and go back inside when it is raining. That was also a novel concept for me. More generally, Ace has been extremely supportive of my lack of advisor skills. He has never complained when I have asked him to do the same experiment over and over, although we were both convinced that it would not work. Nor has he complained about the fact that I have never said, "this is a great manuscript and is ready to be submitted". As he kindly told me recently "I hope your advisor didn't make as many comments on the manuscripts as you make on the ones I give you." I finally got it, I was going over the top.

Finally, I am going to miss Halloween, I have never seen anyone with such a gifted ability to dress-up. Ace is like a chameleon from "House" the somewhat unpredictable doctor (above picture) to "赤堤ももこ" the self-proclaimed leader of PPGZ (below). No character is beyond his reach.....

FELICIDADES ACE!!!!!!!