Latest Anoles Stories

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new study from Duke University shows that one tropical lizard's tolerance for cold is a bit stiffer than scientists had assumed. The Puerto Rican lizard Anolis cristatellus has adapted to the colder winters of Miami, Florida, the study shows. This lizard may also be able to tolerate temperature variations caused by climate change. The results of this study will be published in the December 6 issue of The American Naturalist....

A team of American researchers have reportedly completed what they are calling the first experimental study of the phenomenon known as the founder effect -- the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population is established created using a small group from a larger existing population -- in a natural setting. The researchers, whose work was published online Friday in Science Express and is scheduled to appear in the print journal Science on February 17, "had an unprecedented...

  Researchers have produced the first genome sequence of a lizard. The green anole lizard is the first non-bird species of reptile to have its genome sequenced and assembled. Researchers have assembled and analyzed over 20 mammalian genomes, but the genetic landscape of reptiles remains relatively unexplored. "Sometimes you need to be at a certain distance in order to learn about how the human genome evolved," Jessica Alföldi, co-first author of the paper and a research...

Anoles show they can solve novel problem, remember solutionsTropical lizards may be slow. But they aren't dumb. They can do problem-solving tasks just as well as birds and mammals, a new study shows.A Duke University experiment tested Puerto Rican anoles on several cognitive tasks and found they can learn and remember to solve a problem they've never faced before. The results challenge the scientific stereotype that reptiles have limited cognitive abilities and methods for finding food.The...

It's long been accepted by biologists that environmental factors cause the diversity"”or number"”of species to increase before eventually leveling off. Some recent work, however, has suggested that species diversity continues instead of entering into a state of equilibrium. But new research on lizards in the Caribbean not only supports the original theory that finite space, limited food supplies, and competition for resources all work together to achieve equilibrium; it builds on the...

Millions of years before humans began battling it out over beachfront property, a similar phenomenon was unfolding in a diverse group of island lizards.Often mistaken for chameleons or geckos, Anolis lizards fight fiercely for resources, responding to rivals by doing push-ups and puffing out their throat pouches. But anoles also compete in ways that shape their bodies over evolutionary time, says a new study in the journal Evolution.Anolis lizards colonized the Caribbean from South America...

From geckos and iguanas to Gila monsters and Komodo dragons, lizards are among the most common reptiles on Earth. They are found on every continent except Antarctica. One even pitches car insurance in TV ads. They seemingly can adapt to a variety of conditions, but are most abundant in the tropics.However, new research that builds on data collected more than three decades ago demonstrates that lizards living in tropical forests in Central and South America and the Caribbean could be in...

If you've ever tried capturing a lizard, you'll know how difficult it is. But if you do manage to corner one, many have the ultimate emergency quick release system for escape. They simply drop their tails, leaving the twitching body part to distract the predator as they scamper to safety. According to Gary Gillis from Mount Holyoke College, USA, up to 50% of some lizard populations seem to have traded some part of their tails in exchange for escape. This made Gillis wonder how this loss may...

Birds and others sing; anoles are first species known to mark time through visual displaysWhat does Jack LaLanne have in common with a Jamaican lizard?Like the ageless fitness guru, the lizards greet each new day with vigorous push-ups. That's according to a new study showing that male Anolis lizards engage in impressive displays of reptilian strength -- push-ups, head bobs, and threatening extension of a colorful neck flap called a dewlap -- to defend their territory at dawn and dusk. The...

Male Anole lizards signal ownership of their territory by sitting up on a tree trunk, bobbing their heads up and down and extending a colorful throat pouch.They can spot a rival lizard up to 25 meters away, says National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded biologist Terry Ord of the University of California at Davis. Ord and colleagues published their results this week in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.The lizards' signals need to be strong enough for a rival to see, but not vivid...