Anole

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Anole
Red throat anole (Anolis carolinensis)

Red throat anole ( Anolis carolinensis )

Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank: Toxicofera
without rank: Iguana (Iguania)
Family : Dactyloidae
Genre : Anole
Scientific name
Anole
Daudin , 1802

Anolis , also known as hem finger lizards , is a genus of small to medium-sized tree-dwelling lizards that is one of the iguanas . Anole is still a species-rich genus with 52 recognized species, but in the past there were almost 400 species. The rest are now assigned to other genera and are all placed in the family Dactyloidae .

Appearance and characteristics

Anole species reach a head-trunk length of less than 10 cm to approx. 30 cm. They are comparatively slender lizards with a pointed elongated skull shape. The eyes are large and set high on the head. The tail often takes up over 60% of the body length.

The body color varies among the species between grayish (dark) brown or beige to intensely green tones. The skin often has a richly differentiated pattern of stripes or spots. Almost all species are also able to change their color according to mood, similar to chameleons .

Courting male anole

The males of most anoles species have a throat flag that contrasts with their body color and which they can raise by spreading their hyoid bone . The females mostly have small or no throat flags. Exceptions to this are possible. There are anole species in which the females also have large and colored throat flags or the males have reduced or no throat flags. The males use them in connection with nods of the head to advertise mating, to demarcate territories and to impress opponents. This behavior is less common in females.

Anolis TYPES possess similar gecko "adhesive soles" under her feet, by an extremely enlarged surface (macroscopic: fins, microscopically: hairs) adhering allow even to smooth surfaces. This is not done by suction, but by the van der Waals forces on a molecular level.

In addition, this genus of lizards offers an illustrative example of convergence in evolution . On several Antilles islands, phenotypically almost identical species have been found in similar ecological niches , despite independent development lasting millions of years.

Distribution and way of life

The distribution area of ​​the genus Anolis extends over the Caribbean region (especially Cuba) as well as the adjacent land masses of the southern and southeastern USA , Mexico , Central and South America . Various species are endemic .

Anoles are good climbers and live on trees and in the undergrowth, some species also temporarily inhabit the forest floor. The animals are territorial and form different sized territories that are defended and changed depending on the food supply and suitability. The rather small areas usually contain various hiding places and places to observe the local environment. Several live according to spread Anolis TYPES sympatric . Anoles feed on various invertebrates including spiders and flying insects .

Anoles and people

Many species of anoles are popular terrarium animals and are looked after by reptile keepers around the world. The best-known species in pet ownership is the red throat anole ( Anolis carolinensis ) from Florida . The same species was the first reptile whose genome was fully sequenced .

species

Anolis allisoni
Anolis carolinensis
Anolis porcatus
Anolis vittigerus

literature

  • Axel Flaschendräger, Leo C. Wijffles: Anolis. In biotope and terrarium. Natur und Tier-Verlag, Münster 1996, ISBN 3-931587-04-5 .
  • Kirsten E. Nicholson, Brian I. Crother, Craig Guyer, Jay M. Savage: It is time for a new classification of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) (= Zootaxa . 3477). Magnolia Press, Auckland 2012, ISBN 978-1-77557-010-3 , digitized version (PDF; 8.2 MB) .
  • Jonathan Losos : Lizards in an evolutionary tree: Ecology and adaptive radiation of Anoles , University of California Press 2011

Web links

Commons : Anolis  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Research on senckenberg.de , accessed on November 24, 2014.
  2. ^ Anolis in The Reptile Database
  3. ^ D. Luke Mahler, Travis Ingram, Liam J. Revell, Jonathan B. Losos: Exceptional Convergence on the Macroevolutionary Landscape in Island Lizard Radiations. In: Science . Vol. 341, No. 6143, 2013, pp. 292–295, doi : 10.1126 / science.1232392 .