TAG: GS-3: Environment and Ecology
THE CONTEXT:
The Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) has recently been in the news due to a study published in Biology Letters that explores the link between cognitive demands and habitat complexity in lizards. Researchers found that animals living in more complex habitats (such as forests with diverse structures) require higher cognitive abilities to navigate and coordinate movement along multiple potential paths. The study used the Green Anole to analyse how habitat structure influences cognitive evolution, highlighting the lizard’s adaptability and mental capacity in different environmental conditions.
Explanation:
About Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis):
- Lizards are a broad group of reptiles that includes many species with diverse characteristics. Anoles are a specific type of lizard known for their distinctive features, including an ability to change skin colour, the presence of a dewlap (a throat fan), and adhesive toe pads to climb vertical surfaces.
- Anoles are particularly common in the Americas, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean Sea. Its forests are a mosaic of diverse ecosystems, including tropical rainforests like the El Yunque (montane cloud forests) meeting dry forests. The island is biodiverse and is home to unique flora and fauna, including endangered species.
- The 64 anoles belong to six species but to the same ecomorph class. That is, though these anoles belonged to different species, they essayed the same ecological roles and thus shared many physical traits.
- Genetic data also revealed these species shared a common ancestor 20-30 million years ago—not a long time in evolutionary history.
- The relationship between anoles is important. Among members of other unrelated species, it’s hard to know which cause led to which effect when studying brains and behaviours.
- But the “anoles are very close in terms of many things. This means when comparing their brains, there’s a lot of similar stuff except the habitat part.
- Based on the anoles’ habitats and behaviours, the team divided the six species into three groups: ‘grass bush’, ‘trunk ground’, and ‘trunk crown’. A lizard that lives on a tree trunk is kind of navigating a country road.
- It can just go up and down, side to side. But the lizards that live up in the tree crown must also navigate small branches, a challenge more like winding through a city’s stress. They must figure out how best to negotiate a network of options to reach their destination.
Source:
Prelims Question
Q. Recently, the species Green Anole, seen in the news, is related to-
a) Insect
b) Fish
c) Butterfly
d) Lizard
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