CITN/Cayman27 has been showing a fascinating story about the Anole lizard in their Environment Break programme. The Anole lizard is a species common in Grand Cayman and native to Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

Tess Driessens together with Simon Baeckens was  co-winner of the 2012 Anole Photo contest – see below – in November 2012

Tess Driessens

Crucial to my decision of starting a biology education was my participation in a scientific expedition to Spitsbergen, organized by the University of Antwerp (UA) in July 2005. I was one of the few selected graduated high school students which could join the scientific crew to the North and assist them in their biological projects. After this unforgettable life time experience, I started studying Biology at the University of Brussels (VUB), in September 2005. My bachelor education was strongly biased towards botany. Though, after preparing a bachelor thesis on sex pheromones in Rana temporaria under supervision of Prof. F. Bossuyt (Amphibian Evolution Lab, VUB), the interest in animal behaviour and ecology was strongly growing. This new fascination, and a strong wish to widen my horizon abroad, brought me to the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology (MPIO) in Seewiesen, Germany. There, I engaged in an extensive master thesis project about predator recognition in bats, supervised by Dr. B.M. Siemers (Sensory Ecology Group, MPIO). The thesis study including field work in Bulgaria and laboratory analyses in Germany (July 2009 – January 2010), has contributed in many ways to the development of my scientific and personal skills. In June 2010, I succeeded in graduating summa cum laude as Master in Biology (VUB). During my stay at the MPIO, I had the opportunity to attend a superior talk about animal ecology, ‘Why are mainland anoles different?’, held by Dr. A. Herrel. I got more and more fascinated by the adaptive radiations Anolis lizards have undergone and got the great opportunity to start a PhD project about the variation in dewlap design among Anolis sagrei populations, fund by FWO. My PhD at UA started in October 2011 and is under supervision of Prof. R. Van Damme and Dr. B. Vanhooydonck (Functional Morphology Lab, UA).

For more on this story go to:

http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=tess.driessens&n=101017

Simon Baeckens

THE FUNCTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF COLOUR VARIATION IN LIZARDS

In lizards and other ectothermic animals, body colours and colour patterns serve several important functions, including predation avoidance (camouflage, warning colours), thermoregulation, species recognition, rival assessment and mate choice. Because the relative importance of any of these functions may vary in time and space, species, populations, sexes and individuals also differ in aspects of their colouration. Previous studies of lizard coloration have typically centred on its value for a particular function. How the effects of changes in colouration on one function affect performance in other functions has been investigated far less. This PhD work explores the relevance of body colouration, colour patterns and colour badges for different aspects of lizard biology. It aims to identify characteristics under opposing selection pressures, and to investigate how animals of different identity (dominance, sexes, ages, populations, species) respond to these pressure.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.ua.ac.be/main.aspx?c=simon.baeckens&n=110980

Electoral Map Awash In Blue In Anole Photo Contest

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Jonathan Losos

Well, the election is finally over, and the electoral results are awash with the color blue. More than 300 votes were cast in the semi-finals round, and then an all-star panel chose our winners from the top 12 in the popular vote. Perhaps surprisingly (perhaps not), the hoi polloi and the experts identified the same top three photos.

So now, with no further ado, the winner of the 2012 Anole Photo Contest is…

Steven De Decker and Tess Driessens for their photo of Anolis allisoni.

Steven tells us how the shot came to be: “The Anolis allisoni photo was taken at Los Caneyes, Central Cuba, during an amazing field work expedition within the framework of a PhD study about function and evolution of the Anolis dewlap. This sweet male seemed to be more interested in the photographer than in the female allisoni which was sitting just two meters apart …”

The reward to the grand prize winner is a copy of Karen Cusick’s wonderful book, Lizards on the Fence, as well as a copy of the 2013 Anole Annals calendar, which will feature their photo on its cover.

The bluewash was not limited to the top spot; the second place winner is a photo of Anolis gorgonae taken by AA regular Joe Burgess.

Here’s what Joe had to say: “The image of the A.gorgonae is a female shot in-situ on Gorgona. I am not sure if the defensive posture was due to the close proximity of the camera (and me) or the flash? I am assuming that she was selecting a leaf to perch on for the night as sunset was near?” For his second place position, Joe will receive a copy of the calendar bearing his blue lady on the back cover.

Finally, just to be bipartisan, honorable mention goes to a red anole:

Here’s the story: “This picture was taken by Emelia Failing, a student at Union College, while participating in a research project led by Leo Fleishman and Manuel Leal that examined the relationship between dewlap colors and natural background colors. Male anoles give frequent spontaneous displays, so all we had to do was wait patiently for this male to show off to capture this “lizard’s eye view.” The colors of the dewlap of Anolis pulchellus are particularly beautiful when viewed under natural light conditions.  In addition to the yellow scales, purple center, and red rim, we now know that the dewlap has an ultraviolet section that spans parts of the purple and red sections of the dewlap, adding even more colors, that other anoles (but not humans) can see.  The fact that the colors in the dewlap are absent from any patches in the background, make them highly visible to other members of its species.”

For more on this story go to;

http://www.anoleannals.org/2012/11/07/anole-photo-contest-weve-got-a-winner/