Lizards on Islands within Islands: Microhabitat Use, Movement, and Cannibalism in Anolis sagrei (Brown Anole) and Anolis smaragdinus (Bahamas Green Anole)

Inland lakes on larger Bahamian islands often contain small islands. We surveyed 6 such interior islands on Long Island, Bahamas, to determine whether any of the 4 Anolis lizard species found on the nearby “mainland” were present. Anolis sagrei (Brown Anole), perhaps the most successful overwater disperser and colonizer of all Anolis species, was present on all 6 interior islands. Of the 3 other “mainland” species, only A. smaragdinus (Bahamas Green Anole) was present on interior islands and only on the 2 islands with mature, closed-canopy coppice forest. To investigate how sympatric Brown Anoles and Bahamas Green Anoles use interior-island habitat, we performed a capture–mark–recapture study on 1 island. We found population-level interspecific perch height partitioning typical of other areas where these species co-occur, yet within both species there is a wide range of intra-individual variation in perch height and diameter. We also report male-biased, within-island dispersal in Brown Anoles over a 5-month period and the first recorded case of cannibalism in the Bahamas Green Anole.