Animals are particularly vulnerable during sleep, yet studies addressing sleeping behavior are rare among reptiles. Although the behavior of Anolis lizards has been widely documented, only a handful of studies have described sleeping behavior in this group. Very few of those studies focus on the cryptic twig anoles, an ecomorph characterized by extreme morphology and unique behavior among Anolis. Here we report data on the ethoecology of sleep in the Puerto Rican twig anole, Anolis occultus, including sleeping position and the selection of sleeping sites. We found that A. occultus uses narrow perches with an average diameter of 0.24 cm at an average height of 3.7 m. We observed A. occultus sleeping most often on twigs horizontally with its snout at the distal end of the perch with its tail curled around the perch. We also found no evidence of sleeping site fidelity in A. occultus. Our observations are congruent with previous reports, and provide further evidence for the possibility of convergence in sleeping behavior among anoles belonging to the twig ecomorph. We discuss our findings in the context of sleeping behavior across lizards and suggest that the ethoecology of sleep in A. occultus and lizards in general has been shaped by selection to reduce the likelihood of predation.
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6 August 2020
Sleeping Behavior of the Secretive Puerto Rican Twig Anole, Anolis occultus
Levi Storks,
Manuel Leal
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Caribbean Journal of Science
Vol. 50 • No. 1
August 2020
Vol. 50 • No. 1
August 2020