142 Jane K. Distler, Michael E. Dorcas, J. Whitfield Gibbons, 



Karen L. Kandl, and Kevin R. Russell 



During a herpetofaunal survey on 15 March 1996, we discovered the 

 remains of twelve adult green anoles within a Carolina bay located between the 

 Great Pee Dee and Little Pee Dee Rivers in northeastern South Carolina (Fig. 1). 

 The 1.2-ha Carolina bay was dominated by bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) 

 and was semipermanently flooded. The bay was surrounded by a one-year-old 

 clear-cut. The anoles were found beneath the bark of a rotted bald cypress that 

 was still upright within the bay. Eleven of the specimens appeared to have been 

 mummified. One anole skeleton was also found along side the other anoles, 

 indicating that at least one individual had died previously in the same location. 

 All twelve specimens were on the southeast side of the tree. 



Although there are several possible explanations for the anole deaths 

 (e.g., disease), the anoles were most likely killed by freezing temperatures dur- 

 ing winter, which leads to the question of "why did the anoles choose this par- 

 ticular site to overwinter?" One possibility is that there was no other suitable 

 habitat available (Worthington and Sabath 1966, Weintraub 1968, Vitt 1974). 

 However, the presence of living anoles in the immediate vicinity (within the 

 same Carolina bay) indicates at least some lizards were able to find suitable over- 

 wintering habitat. Long-distance migration is unlikely to account for the pres- 

 ence of living anoles, because they were found within the bay shortly after the 

 uncharacteristically cold weather. 



Another, more likely explanation is that, under normal circumstances, 

 this particular site would have provided suitable overwintering habitat. Howev- 

 er, below-normal temperatures during winter 1995-1996 might have been too 

 extreme for lizard survival in this particular location. According to the South 

 Carolina State Climatology Office, average temperatures during winter 1995- 

 1 996 were lower than the average of all temperatures for the Pee Dee region from 

 1948 to 1996. More importantly, December 1995 and January 1996 each had 

 more than 20 consecutive days with low temperatures below C; February 1996 

 experienced 15 days below C. Prolonged low temperatures are infrequent in 

 most years in this region. January and February 1996 rank highest in the num- 

 ber of days since 1988 when temperatures fell below the deep freeze point (-2 C). 

 We hypothesize that some wintering habitat, which was suitable in years with 

 normal winter temperatures, might have proven to be unsuitable during the par- 

 ticularly cold winter of 1995-1996. In addition, Anolis carolinensis commonly 

 seeks relatively superficial cover (Palmer and Braswell 1995), thus exposing 

 itself to harsher temperatures than other species that select areas with greater pro- 

 tection. As a result, winter temperatures are most likely a controlling factor in 

 the northern distribution of Anolis carolinensis. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS- We would like to thank A. Braswell and B. Wigley for 

 providing comments that substantially improved the manuscript. We thank Inter- 

 national Paper for providing access to the study area and the funding for this pro- 



