So there I was, on Thursday the tenth of April at 2pm walking towards the library after herpetology class to go study more herpetology obviously. All of a sudden I sense movement in my peripheral vision. Out of the corner of my eye I notice something moving on top of the trash receptacle. Normally I would ignore it, but since I am constantly on the hunt for new and exciting herps I investigated. What I found was a small Herp! I counted its front and hind toes and found them to be five and five meaning that it was a Lizard and not a Salamander. At first, given my knowledge of the family Teiidae I suspected this little rascal was the local species Aspidoscelis Sexlineatus due to its rather long tail. However, I soon realized that due to its lack of a forked tongue, that I saw when I grabbed a piece of food I set down for it, that it couldn't be a Teiidae. It also lacked the characteristic six stripes that distinguishes the local species. I then noticed that it had granular scales and another distinguishing feature of this lizard was its toe pads. Like a professional Herp Hunter I captured this little guy with a photo shoot brought to you by the Apply iPhone. I dwelled on my sighting for quite a while and decided to ask a colleague of mine, Shannon Lyons, to help me distinguish which lizard this might be. After much grueling research and conversation we decided on the family polychrotidae and specifically on the local species Anolis Carolinensis. This was based on its granular scales, its lack of a forked tongue, its five hind and five front toes, its toe pads, its long tail. Although one may generally associate Anoles with the color green I found that color variety is a common theme among this organism so despots is white line down its back I considered it to probably be an Anole. It also had white coloration on its underside which is seen in the Anole. Its lack of keeled scales helped me rule out the family phrynosomatidae. Because it was not shiny or smooth I ruled out scincidae and it certainly wasn't a Gecko because its toe pads and eyes were too small or Glass lizard because it had appendages. Because the distinguishing characteristic of a dewlap was not present and I already identified it as anole I figured that it must be a female that had the reduced dewlap and thats why I didn't see the dewlap in my photos. This anole was about 7 centimeters, female, and was found just in front of the library in Charleston, SC 02562 near coming street. The male dewlap is used to attract a female in mating rituals and is also used as a visual cue of protecting its territory. The anole breeds from march to september and the female stores the sperm following mating. The stored sperm then fertilizes her eggs if she hasn't mated with another male of which she may utilize his sperm. The female lays a single egg and buries it in moist leaves or a dark moist place. The female lays a single egg in this way every two weeks during the breeding season and may lay up to 15 to 18 eggs. The eggs hatch in 5 to 7 weeks and there is no parental care. They are direct developing. Until next time, my name is Hudson Sealey and I will continue to keep my eyes peeled for more new and exciting herps!
So there I was, on Thursday the tenth of April at 2pm walking towards the library after herpetology class to go study more herpetology obviously. All of a sudden I sense movement in my peripheral vision. Out of the corner of my eye I notice something moving on top of the trash receptacle. Normally I would ignore it, but since I am constantly on the hunt for new and exciting herps I investigated. What I found was a small Herp! I counted its front and hind toes and found them to be five and five meaning that it was a Lizard and not a Salamander. At first, given my knowledge of the family Teiidae I suspected this little rascal was the local species Aspidoscelis Sexlineatus due to its rather long tail. However, I soon realized that due to its lack of a forked tongue, that I saw when I grabbed a piece of food I set down for it, that it couldn't be a Teiidae. It also lacked the characteristic six stripes that distinguishes the local species. I then noticed that it had granular scales and another distinguishing feature of this lizard was its toe pads. Like a professional Herp Hunter I captured this little guy with a photo shoot brought to you by the Apply iPhone. I dwelled on my sighting for quite a while and decided to ask a colleague of mine, Shannon Lyons, to help me distinguish which lizard this might be. After much grueling research and conversation we decided on the family polychrotidae and specifically on the local species Anolis Carolinensis. This was based on its granular scales, its lack of a forked tongue, its five hind and five front toes, its toe pads, its long tail. Although one may generally associate Anoles with the color green I found that color variety is a common theme among this organism so despots is white line down its back I considered it to probably be an Anole. It also had white coloration on its underside which is seen in the Anole. Its lack of keeled scales helped me rule out the family phrynosomatidae. Because it was not shiny or smooth I ruled out scincidae and it certainly wasn't a Gecko because its toe pads and eyes were too small or Glass lizard because it had appendages. Because the distinguishing characteristic of a dewlap was not present and I already identified it as anole I figured that it must be a female that had the reduced dewlap and thats why I didn't see the dewlap in my photos. This anole was about 7 centimeters, female, and was found just in front of the library in Charleston, SC 02562 near coming street. The male dewlap is used to attract a female in mating rituals and is also used as a visual cue of protecting its territory. The anole breeds from march to september and the female stores the sperm following mating. The stored sperm then fertilizes her eggs if she hasn't mated with another male of which she may utilize his sperm. The female lays a single egg and buries it in moist leaves or a dark moist place. The female lays a single egg in this way every two weeks during the breeding season and may lay up to 15 to 18 eggs. The eggs hatch in 5 to 7 weeks and there is no parental care. They are direct developing. Until next time, my name is Hudson Sealey and I will continue to keep my eyes peeled for more new and exciting herps!
1 comment:
Awesome anole! Looks like a nice day for a bask.
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