Full text loading...
Current Herpetology
Abstract
Abstract:
We studied the longevity and growth pattern of the wild populations of invasive green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) in Chichi-jima Island, Japan. We estimated specimen age using skeletochronology and counted the number of lines of arrested growth (LAGs) on thin cross sections of femur bones. We observed from zero to five of LAGs for both male and female specimens. This indicated that the green anoles can survive at least five years in Chichi-jima Island. Body size increased with the number of LAGs, but the growth rate decreased when individuals had two LAGs. Our results suggest that the wild anoles might expend more energy for reproduction rather than for growth at this stage.
We thank Nathaniel Savory, Jr., Tsuyoshi Ono, Fumiko Yumura, and colleagues of the National Forest Division of Ogasawara General Office for collecting samples. We also thank Dr. Mitsuhiko Toda for literature. Dr. Singo Miura gave us technical advice in making sections, and Dr. Simon A. Lawson corrected our English of the initial manuscript. This study was supported by a Grantin-Aid “Research on restoration of the forest ecosystem of the Ogasawara Islands by reducing the impact of introduced species” from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.
Data & Media loading...