Anolis angusticeps - Digital Commons @ Trinity

Trinity University
Digital Commons @ Trinity
Biology Faculty Research
Biology Department
6-2014
Communal Nesting in the Cuban Twig Anole
(Anolis angusticeps) from South Bimini, Bahamas
Christopher D. Robinson
Trinity University, [email protected]
Bonnie K. Kircher
Trinity University, [email protected]
Michele A. Johnson
Trinity University, [email protected]
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Repository Citation
Robinson, C. D., Kircher, B. K., Johnson, M. A. (2014). Communal Nesting in the Cuban Twig Anole (Anolis angusticeps) from
South Bimini, Bahamas. Reptiles & Amphibians, 21(2), 71-72.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
IRCF REPTILES
& AMPHIBIANS • 21(2):71–72
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
• VOL15, NO
4 • DEC 2008 189
• JUN 2014
IRCF
REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS
C O N S E R V AT I O N A N D N AT U R A L H I S T O R Y
T A B L E
O F
C O N T E N T S
Communal Nesting in the Cuban Twig Anole
(Anolis angusticeps) from South Bimini, Bahamas
FEATURE ARTICLES
 Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin:
On the Road to Understanding the Ecology and Conservation of the Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer
190
 The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada:
A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson
198
R E S E A R C H Christopher
A R T I C L E S D.
Robinson, Bonnie K. Kircher, and Michele A. Johnson
 The Texas Horned Lizard in Central and Western Texas ....................... Emily Henry, Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad Perry
204
 The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida
............................................. Brian J. Camposano, Kenneth L. Krysko, Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky
212
Department of Biology, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas 78212, USA ([email protected])
CONSERVATION ALERT
L
 World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220
izards in the genus
Anolis (i.e., anoles) generally lay one More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223
 The
“Dow Jonesresult
Index” ofwhen
Biodiversity
...........................................................................................................................................
225
egg clutches. These
clutches
a single
follicle in
one ovary matures Hand
ovulates,
and
the
next
ovulation
(typiUSBANDRY
cally from the alternate
ovary)
occurs
previous
 Captive
Care ofonly
the Central
Nettedafter
Dragonthe
.......................................................................................................
Shannon Plummer 226
egg is laid (Licht and Gorman 1970). Female anoles oviposit
PROFILE
approximately every 1–2
weeks throughout the breeding sea Kraig Adler: A Lifetime Promoting Herpetology ................................................................................................ Michael L. Treglia 234
son (Andrews and Rand 1974), and eggs are deposited under
C O M Mrocks
E N T Aor
R Ylogs, and in decaying bark
leaf litter or soil, under
 The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238
(Rand 1967). Most female anoles select solitary nesting sites
B O O K R Esites
VIEW
away from the oviposition
of other lizards, possibly to
Amphibians
of therapid
World edited
by S.N.
avoid mass predation Threatened
or to prevent
the
spread
of Stuart,
dis- M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox,
R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243
ease between eggs (Rand 1967). However, several species of
West Indian anoles
have been reported
toREPORTS:
deposit eggs
inof Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245
Summaries
 CONSERVATION
RESEARCH
 NATURAL
HISTORY
RESEARCH
REPORTS: Summaries
communal nests: A.
allisoni, A.
angusticeps,
A. argenteolus,
A. of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247
 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248
argillaceus, A. bartschi,
A. lucius,INFORMATION
A. porcatus, A.
valencienni, A.
 EDITORIAL
.....................................................................................................................................................
251

FOCUS
ON
CONSERVATION:
A
Project Youand
Can Support
vermiculatus, and possibly A. cristatellus, A. homolechis,
A. ............................................................................................... 252
marmoratus (Rand 1967, Henderson and Powell 2009 and
references therein, Domínguez et al. 2010). Here, we describe
an observation of communal nesting in A. angusticeps chickBack Cover. Michael Kern
Front Cover. Shannon Plummer.
charneyi on the island of South Bimini,
Bahamas.
Totat et velleseque audant mo
Totat et velleseque audant mo
The Cuban Twig Anole (Anolisestibus
angusticeps;
Fig.rerchil
1) is an
estibus inveliquo velique rerchil
inveliquo velique
quos accullabo.
Ilibus
erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus
arboreal anole native to Cuba anderspienimus,
the Bahamas
(Schwartz
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum
aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum
and Henderson 1991). Three subspecies
are currently
fugiatis maionsequat
eumquerecogfugiatis maionsequat eumque
moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiaerere nonsedis maof
sectiatur
nized: A. a. angusticeps in Cuba, A.moditia
a. chickcharneyi
South
ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos
tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as
Bimini, Bahamas, and A. a. oligaspis
from elsewhere in the
accullabo.
Bahamas (Oliver 1948). This species occurs primarily on
twigs and small branches of the canopy, and is assigned to the
“twig” ecomorph (Beuttell and Losos 1999). Novo Rodríguez
(1985) first reported communal nesting in A. a. angusticeps
on Cayo Francés, Cuba. He described a female attempting
to enter a hole in the trunk of a palmetto tree. Upon examining the hole, the opening of which was 1.6 x 1.0 cm and
1.6 m above the ground, he found 65 developing eggs and
1,625 eggshells. On Cayo Coco, Cuba, Estrada (1993) also
Fig. 1. Like other “twig” ecomorphs, Cuban Twig Anoles (Anolis angusticeps) are small and slender and possess proportionately short tails and limbs
reported locating several communal nests of A. a. angusticeps,
relative to most other anoles. They move slowly and rely heavily on cryp2
2
first finding 250 shells/m in an approximately 3-m area of a
sis. Although twig anoles typically are associated with narrow branches, A.
cave. At another site, he found four intact eggs (one of which
angusticeps also is known to perch on tree trunks, fence posts, rocks, and
even the ground. Photographs by Joseph Burgess.
hatched during collection) and a number of scattered shells,
Copyright © 2014. Christopher D. Robinson. All rights reserved.
71
ROBINSON ETAL.
IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 21(2):71–72 • JUN 2014
Fig. 2. Communal nest of Anolis angusticeps chickcharneyi inside a hole in a Ficus tree. Photograph by Bonnie K. Kircher.
Literature Cited
and elsewhere in a rocky fissure he found four intact eggs and
about 80 shells/m2 in an area of about 2.5 m2.
On 28 July 2013, while walking the “Beach Trail” of
South Bimini (25.7022˚N, -79.3019˚W), we observed an
instance of communal nesting in A. a. chickcharneyi. We captured an adult female on the trunk of a Ficus sp. tree and realized that she had been covering a hole in the tree, her body
position suggesting that she was exiting the hole. Two days
prior, we had captured another female in the same location
on this tree. The hole was 1.12 m above the ground, and the
opening was 3.5 x 1.5 cm. Inside the hole, we could see at least
seven eggs, packed together and touching one another (Fig. 2).
Because we did not wish to disturb the eggs, we were unable to
determine whether additional eggs were packed into the hole
or to count any eggshells that might have been inside.
Communal nesting in lizards may occur when suitable nesting sites are rare or if adaptive benefits accrue from aggregation
of eggs (Radder and Shine 2007). Communal nests, although
infrequently described for West Indian Anolis lizards, may be
more common than the number of reports would suggest.
Andrews, R. and A.S. Rand. 1974. Reproductive effort in anoline lizards. Ecology
55:1317–1327.
Beuttell, K. and J.B. Losos. 1999. Ecological morphology of Caribbean anoles.
Herpetological Monographs 13:1–28.
Domínguez, M., A. Sanz, J. Chávez, and N. Almaguer. 2010. Cyclical reproduction in females of the Cuban lizard Anolis lucius (Polychrotidae). Herpetologica
66:443–450.
Estrada, A.R. 1993. Anfibios y reptiles de Cayo Coco, Archipiélago de SabanaCamagüey, Cuba. Poeyana 432:1–21.
Henderson, R.W. and R. Powell. 2009. Natural History of West Indian Reptiles and
Amphibians. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
Licht, P. and G.C. Gorman. 1970. Reproductive and fat cycles in Caribbean Anolis
lizards. University of California Publications in Zoology 95:1–52.
Novo Rodríguez, J. 1985. Nido comunal de Anolis angusticeps (Sauria: Iguanidae)
en Cayo Francés, Cuba. Miscelánea Zoológica 26:3–4.
Oliver, J.A. 1948. The anoline lizards of Bimini, Bahamas. American Museum
Novitates 1383:1–36.
Radder, R.S. and R. Shine. 2007. Why do female lizards lay their eggs in communal
nests? Journal of Animal Ecology 76:881–887.
Rand, A.S. 1967. Communal egg laying in anoline lizards. Herpetologica 23:227–230.
Schwartz, A. and R.W. Henderson. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West
Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. University of Florida
Press, Gainesville.
72