Abstract
Abstract We studied the ecology of Anolis nitens tandai at three localities in the central and western Amazon of Brazil. The lizards were largely restricted to leaf litter microhabitats in relatively undisturbed rain forest. Activity occurred throughout the day. Body temperatures of active lizards averaged 27.7 ± 0.3 C and were similar to air and substratum temperatures in the microhabitats in which lizards were found. Microhabitats containing lizards were slightly warmer than a random set of microhabitats suggesting that the lizards selected relatively warm sites within a relatively cool forest habitat, but avoidance of treefalls suggests lizards do not seek out the warmest available microhabitats. The diet consisted mostly of grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, and insect larvae. Mean prey size increased with lizard body size, and lizards varied in how full their stomachs were. Sexual dimorphism in mass and limb length exists. Compared with other subspecies of Anolis nitens, A. n. tandai has relatively lon...
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