James G. Shaw

MICROHABITAT USE IN JUVENILE ANOLIS LIZARDS. James G. Shaw¹, Annie M. Chen¹, Carla C. Fresquez¹, W. Taylor Ramsey¹, Michele A. Johnson¹, Biology Department, Washington University, St. Louis, MO¹

Caribbean lizards in the genus Anolis have specialized adaptations to particular microhabitats, and many ecologists have studied the microhabitat use of adult Anolis lizards. However, almost nothing is known about the microhabitat use of Anolis juveniles. Our study examined the microhabitat use of the juveniles of three Anolis species, Anolis cybotes, A. coelestinus, and A. olsonnai, extending previous work by determining if and how juvenile microhabitat use differs from adult microhabitat use. We hypothesized that juveniles of each species would use different microhabitats than their congeneric adults, and would use similar microhabitats to other juveniles in different species due to their morphological similarities. We measured perch height, diameter, inclination, and visibility to estimate lizard habitats in a coastal forest north of Barahona, in the southwestern part of the Dominican Republic. A MANOVA analysis of the data indicates that A. cybotes juveniles use much lower habitats than their adult counterparts, while A. olsonnai juveniles tend to use higher habitats than their adult counterparts. A. coelestinus juveniles tend to use similar habitats as adults do. This information helps to show that morphology, as opposed to adult specializations, helps in determining which types of habitats lizards use, but the effects of morphology are different for different species.