NO. 3505 ANOLIS LINEATOPUS — RAND 15 



sunlight is not available and also from higher elevations where tem- 

 peratures are lower. 



In the lowland edificarian and disturbed areas where these studies 

 were made, there are probably few places from which these anoles are 

 excluded because of generally low temperatures. They do not occur 

 where there is no protection from overheating in the sun. 



Predators. — Every animal in Jamaica that preys on small land 

 vertebrates or large insects probably eats A. lineatojms at least occa- 

 sionally, but in the areas studied the predation pressure does not seem 

 to be heavy. 



From my observation, the most important predators are domestic 

 cats. One well-fed mother cat that was living with us brought her 

 kittens at least one and sometimes several anoles every day, many 

 of them adult A. lineatoinis. However, this made no obvious diminu- 

 tion in the population of anoles living around the house. 



I also saw dogs catch and kill A. lineatopus, and some of them 

 probably do this regularly. Chickens also eat these lizards. I found 

 an Anolis in the stomach of one of the few snakes I examined, a Dro- 

 micus callilaemus. Even though this species of snake is moderately 

 common (one could almost always find one in a couple of hours of 

 searching), it is a ground-li^'^ng species and probably not an important 

 predator on any Anolis. Other snakes are rare in the study area. 



Birds are probably important predators on small Anolis; Wetmore 

 (1916) reports that in Puerto Rico he found Anolis in the stomachs of 

 most of the insectivorous birds, even as small as the tody, and this 

 situation probably applies to Jamaica also. The most common of 

 the larger insectivorous birds around Kingston — mockingbirds, anis, 

 and kingbirds — probably take young and female but few adult male 

 A. lineatopus. 



The birds that might be expected to feed on adult males, the larger 

 cuckoos, herons, hawks, and owls, are relatively rare in the study 

 areas and probably are thus of relatively little importance. 



The common toad, Bufo marinus (I counted 25 on the lawn one 

 evening), certainly could eat small to moderate-sized A. lineatopus, 

 but, since the toads are nocturnal, they probably catch few. 



Anoles themselves eat lizards. Anolis grahami at least occasionally 

 eat young A. lineatopus and the larger A. valencienni and A. garmani 

 probably regularly eat at least adult females and young males of A. 

 lineatopus. Both these larger species are relatively common (an hour 

 or two search in the correct habitat would reveal at least one of each), 

 but both are primarily hzards of tree crowns and consequently do not 

 feed in the places where A. lineatopus are most common. 



I only once saw an A. lineatopus, a 60 mm male, catch and eat one 

 of its own species, about 20 mm long, but I have several times seen an 



