Winter Mortality 



141 



orcutti) in rock crevices in California. Green anoles {Anolis carolinensis) have 

 been reported to seek shelter, both individually and in aggregations, underneath 

 felled trees and rotted stumps (Hamilton 1948, Neill 1948). 



During severe cold winter spells, otherwise adequate habitat may not 

 provide suitable refugia for winter protection. Lacking protection, lizards may 

 die from freezing temperatures inside their chosen refugia. Such deaths have 

 been documented. Worthington and Sabath (1966) found skeletal remains of 

 over sixteen tree lizards in limestone fragments in Texas. Vitt (1974) found thir- 

 teen dead tree lizards and one banded sand snake {Chilomeniscus cinctus) with- 

 in a rotted stump in Arizona. Weintraub (1968) found the remains of granite 

 spiny lizards of all age classes within granite crevices. 



Fig. 1 . Remains of green anoles {Anolis carolinensis) on a Cypress stump within a 

 Carolina bay in the PeeDee River region, South Carolina. 



