You can watch the gradual color change in this Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis) from green to brown over 4 mins.
Summer of 2011 was drier than usual in Athens, GA. Annual rainfall (37.11 inches) was lower than the 1981-2010 average (46.66 inches). The month of July was particularly hot. Average monthly temperature was 81.9 F (above 1895-2012 average of 80.0 F). Reptiles in such conditions have a rather fast metabolism and burn calories fast. This female lizard was a bit underweight desperately in search of food. Hunger can force individuals to take risks. They may even expose themselves to unforgiving cameras.
In 2011 the complete genome of this lizard has been sequenced and published in the scientific journal Nature.
At the moment, there is an on going manipulative experiment with the brown anole lizards in Bahamas. One of the principal investigators of the study Jonathan Losos describes what have happened during the past two decades since the experiment began.
Here’s another sequence of a predation attempt by the same emacerated but attentive female lizard:
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