Life on the leaf litter: The ecology of Anolis nitens tandai in the Brazilian Amazon

We studied the ecology of Anolis nitens tandai at three localities in the c entral 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 2 7.7 +/- 0.3 C and were similar to air and substratum temperatures in the mi crohabitats in which lizards were found. Microhabitats containing lizards w ere slightly warmer than a random set of microhabitats suggesting that the lizards selected relatively warm sites within a relatively cool forest habi tat, but avoidance of treefalls suggests lizards do not seek out the warmes t available microhabitats. The diet consisted mostly of grasshoppers, crick ets, 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 n itens, A. n. tandai has relatively longer limbs than Anolis nitens scypheus or Anolis nitens nitens and intermediate body temperatures.