The habits of all the creatures depend a lot on their upbringing, lifestyle and their necessity. There are plenty of anoles found in the forest of Florida. Both green and brown ones are present there. As the brown ones seem to be more dominant, the green ones leant to climb up to the higher branches of the trees.
They are still cohabitating in the same place but the green ones have longer and gripping fingers on their feet. They have evolved with wider toe pad and can now manage to grip the thin branches with least effort.
So this example shows anoles, like any other creatures can learn a new skill and adapt their body at the same time. It shows us that with time the characteristic behaviour of the anoles changed. The most interesting fact is that this change occurred not to fight some other proactive creature but their own species. This happened due to the search for food and other resources and to protect themselves from the competition.
Usually found in Cuba, Bahama and all along with the places of Caribbean islands, anoles are quite good at tree climbing. They live on the trees for the most part of the day. They also can get their food from the trees as they like to catch insects that are available on the branches of the different trees.
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Reasons why Green Anoles Climb Trees
For the reptiles like anoles, and many other such creatures which can live both on the forest floor and on the trees, the reasons for climbing the trees are similar, the food, the mate or the shelter. We can do a breakdown of these points to know why anoles, though is perfectly comfortable at the forest floor or desert, climbs up a tree.
Food
Anoles are insectivores. They can get ample insects on the trees, the higher the branches the more number of insects they can consume. So this is a good way for them to get food in large varieties.
Also on the forest floor or in a desert, they need to compete for the food with other reptiles like snakes, scorpions and so on. These reptiles also can climb trees but they do not do that until there is a need to protect themselves against some enemy. So anoles can take the advantage of the climbing ability and go to the higher branches to get fed with lots of insects.
Mate
Anoles love to stay hidden. This nature of theirs gets a great boost when the huge and dense foliage gives them a nice hiding place. They can also go there for a mating purpose which will be undisturbed when they are at a certain height.
There is less chance of anoles getting eaten by big birds as their body colour helps them to get morphed with the tree leaves. It is pretty hard for other creatures to identify them through the dark green bunch of leaves.
Other than mating, they also love to stay hidden and that purpose is fully achieved when they get at the top of the branch.
Shelter
Taking shelter among the branches is a common habit of anoles and they feel quite safe that way. This is also good for their security as they can become the prey of large animals. They are not the ones who built a burrow on the earth until they need to lay the eggs. So to stay secure they often climb the trees and find a resting place for themselves.
Another reason for the green anoles to stay up in the trees is, to stay away from the extreme heat. During the months of summer, the earth absorbs the heat and becomes hot.
Though anoles love to stay in a hot and humid climate, too much heat that is radiated from the earth can cause the heatstroke. To stay out of the extreme heat, they often climb up the higher branches of trees where the foliage will give them cover from the harsh sun rays. This is a simple method of self-protection that has been adopted by the green anole.
Different behaviours of green anole
Anoles, when kept in the terrarium, act in various ways which are hard to be deciphered by the new owners. They gape, climb the branches or move their tails and forearms due to several reasons.
They are pretty expressive of their likings, dislikes, happiness and stress but in different ways. To keep the anole happy and healthy in the cage, the owner should learn about their different habits and understand the reasons causing them. You can learn how to care for green anole.
Conclusion
The biological change that took place among the green anoles took a long time. This evolution is still happening as their toe pad is yet to be in the right shape. The anoles with bigger toe pads managed to stay alive and breed even after storms and other natural calamities. So this adaptation procedure will progress and the anoles will be mastering the art of tree climbing in a better way in future.
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