NO. 3595 ANOLIS LINEATOPUS — RAND 41 



given in coiirtsliip and agonistic situations. Like bobbing, it seems 

 also to serve as an advertisement display. 



Orientation: Though orientation by itself is not a display, certain 

 stereotyped changes in orientation are important components of almost 

 all displays. In courtship a male orients toward the female, who is 

 usually oriented away from him. He may turn his head to one side 

 so that his dewlap is more visible to her. In a dispute, A. lineatopus 

 frequently does not face its opponent directly but turns so that it 

 presents a side view. The amount of turning varies from turning 

 the head slightly to one side, through a position in which the lizard 

 is at right angles to its opponent, to one in which the lizard is facing 

 almost directly away from its opponent. In disputes in which both 

 lizards are displaying, they frequently approach one another obliquely 

 rather than directly. 



In watching a prolonged fight between two males, it is possible 

 to predict, on the basis of the angle of each, which one will attack 

 next. Lizards that are parallel to one another will usually display 

 rather than attack. The closer a lizard is to facing his opponent, the 

 more likely he will approach the other; the farther away he is facing 

 from his opponent, the more likely he will retreat. 



Posture: Associated with lateral orientation are postural displays 

 that increase the apparent size of the lizard when seen in side view. 

 In lizards of all sizes the sides are pulled in or flattened so that the 

 back is arched and the belly extended with the result that the body 

 appears deeper. The throat is gorged : the base of the hyoid is pulled 

 down so that the throat appears swollen. Frequently the mouth is 

 opened slightly and the tongue, which is short and broad, is raised and 

 pushed forward so that the tip appears as a small ball between the 

 ends of the jaws. 



Finally, and in the males only and most conspicuously in adults, 

 the tissue along the center of the neck and back can be raised into 

 nuchal and dorsal crests. The total effect of these changes is to 

 make the lizard, when seen from the side, appear almost twice as 

 bulky as it normally is. The postural displays are all associated with 

 disputes and do not occur in courtship. 



Jaw fencing: Though fighting is not properly considered display, 

 combat between A. lineatopus adult males is usually so ritualized 

 that is should be considered here. Each male approaches the other 

 slowly until the two are an inch or so apart, head to head. They 

 lunge repeatedly at each other's snout for a moment or so, as if fencing 

 for a hold. They then lock jaws, one biting the other's snout and the 

 latter biting the former's lower jaw. The two lizards then strain 

 against one another, each apparently attempting to dislodge the 

 other from the perch. When one succeeds, the other may fall to 



