NO. 3595 ANOLIS LINEATOPUS — RAND 39 



Ruibal (in press). ''Display" is used here in its usual nontechnical 

 sense. 



The displays of A. lineatopvs can be described under the following 

 categories: back jumping , step bobbing, bobbing, dewlapping, orien- 

 tation, posture, jaw fencing. 



Back jump: The lizard suddenly and violently extends all four legs 

 so that it pushes itself away from the perch and backward along it. 

 A series of one to three of these may be given in sequence. I have seen 

 it only infrequently and always in long disputes between adult males, 

 most often shortly before they meet to lock jaws or between bouts of 

 jaw locking. 



Step bobbing: In this display the head and anterior part of the 

 body is raised stiffly in a series of short steps and then lowered in a 

 similar manner, producing a slow, jerky bob that is usually repeated 

 several times in sequence. Step bobbing is somewhat more com- 

 mon than the back jump. It is given by juvenile and adult males 

 (and perhaps females) usually in disputes wherein both lizards are 

 displaying, occurring early as well as late in a dispute. It occurs 

 more rarely in dispute situations wherein the opponent is not dis- 

 playing and only very occasionally in situations wherein no opponent 

 is visible. It can be combined with dewlapping. 



Bobbing: The head or head and shoulders are moved up and down 

 rapidly several times. This is the most common A. lineatopus display. 

 It is given in courtship by both sexes and in dispute situations by 

 males and females, both juveniles and adults. The displays included 

 herein are variable in form and, though I did not do so, it may be 

 possible with careful study to separate a male courtship bob from 

 this category, as Greenberg and Noble (1944) did for Anolis caro- 

 linensis and Kastle (1963) did for Norops auratus. A great deal of 

 bobbing by all A. lineafop>us is not obviously either dispute or coiu'tship. 

 Similar bobbmg occurs commonly in iguanids and agamids. Interpre- 

 tations of its significance are varied. Greenberg and Noble (1944) 

 called it a subordination gesture in Anolis carolinensis; Noble and 

 Bradley (1933) called it an aid to vision, increasing depth perception. 

 Carpenter (1962), in Sceloporus undulaius and other iguanids, cafls it 

 assertion display, and Harris (1964) suggests tliat in Agama agama 

 it functions to keep the group members aw^are of one another's 

 position. Evans (1936a) suggested that in Anolis carolinensis it 

 served as a cue given by a female to a male to indicate her sexual 

 receptivity. 



I have recorded the behavior associated with 57 instances of 

 bobbing by marked females and subadults during two sessions of 

 two hours each (tables 7, 8). The most striking correlation is with 

 movement. Anolis lineatopus usually bobbed after it had shifted its 



