August | 2016 | The Lizard Log

While most of the lab has been down in Alabama, I’ve spent a good part of this summer back at Penn State, working with a species I’ve never used before – the green anole (Anolis carolinensis).

Isn’t he cute?

There is a test we’d like to use in our fence lizards, called the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin test. It involves injecting the pad of a rear foot with a small amount of PHA, which stimulates part of the immune system, and then measuring the swelling that occurs. This swelling is small, and temporary, abating in a few days with no lasting damage. But the level of swelling can provide information about the lizards’ immune function.

A confused anole having its rear foot measured with calipers.

Unfortunately, while this test has been used in humans, bi rds, rats, and even amphibians, it has not yet been validated in any reptile species. Ideally I would validate the test in our species of interest, the eastern fence lizard, but I needed a larger number of lizards than we can reasonably catch. So, instead, we decided to purchase some green anoles for this project.

In addition to seeing if the PHA test works in reptiles, we’re also trying to determine if the type of PHA used makes a difference, as there are many different formulations of PHA used, and each formulation may have a different effect. I’m also determining exactly what the immune reaction to the different PHA formulations are, and how this evolves over time after the injection.

Hey everyone!

Even though I am continuing the same project from last year (how maternal stress affects the offspring in fence lizards), there are still some striking differences. One of the biggest is that there are fellow grad students and a post doc this summer!

From left to right: Cameron (PhD), myself (PhD), Kirsty (post-doc), and Dustin (PhD).

Also, last year we made the drive in one day, however this year we broke the drive up over 2 days. This gave us an excellent opportunity to experience different parts of the USA on our drive. For the night we stopped in Knoxville, TN and had dinner at an amazing place called Calhoun’s On The River. True to its namesake, it had a beautiful view of the Tennessee River!

After all the driving, we finally made it back to Solon Dixon and started catching lizards. As usual, the lizards’ personalities were very evident.

Male fence lizard unamused with our attempts to catch him

Apparently the female lizards found that corner of the tub to be very interesting.

As I went to put this female back in her tub, she refused to let go of my fingers!

On top of finding many fence lizards, we were also about to see many other reptiles and amphibians!

A barking tree frog tightly hugging my finger.

An American alligator, at a very reasonable size to handle.

A yellow bellied slider who found a little bit of water to sit in.

A glass lizard!

As I spend more time down here, I find it rubbing off on me more and more.

Very tempted to get a cowboy hat.

After catching the females, our first trip came to an end. However, we were quickly back down to release the females and run experiments with the hatchlings. With us this time we had an undergraduate researcher, Jen!

The Bayfront Park, overlooking Mobile Bay. Located right next to one of our field sites, Blakeley State Park.

As we wait for more hatchlings to emerge, we have been focusing on removing fire ants from some of the enclosures we built. As fire ants are highest in the mounds earlier in the day, this means some early mornings. On the up side, it also means we always get to see the sunrise.

Sunrise right near the enclosures.

Most things have gone well, with only one piece of equipment starting to show signs of wear, but this just gave me an excuse to do some handywork!

Used some steel epoxy to seal a leak in the pot we boil water in for fire ants.

Things have started to pick up in terms of hatchling, so soon you should be able to hear about how things are going with them. Until then, here is a pic from right here at Solon Dixon