We have a new paper out today from the Greek Island system! As readers know, we’ve been tracking the Aegean Wall lizards introduced to the Greek experimental islets back in 2014. The experimental islets are predator-free, and so the lizard populations have really taken off. With this increase in lizard numbers, we’ve been finding signs … More Rapid and repeated shifts in chemical signals in Greece
With all the fanfare about the lizards and leaf blowers there were a lot of unstated (and stated) questions about “what’s the use?” I headed off the questions when they were directed at me (or when I found them on twitter) but Don Lyman, who’s been following the Boston Lizard story for a while, wrote a … More Guest Repost: Lizards, Leaf Blowers, and the Value of Basic Research
In other exciting news this week, after a thorough re-survey of Redonda the conservation organizations have determined that Redonda is officially rat and goat free. This is terrific news because even a small pocket of rats that were missed in last year’s eradication could quickly explode into a huge population, negating all of the conservation … More Redonda is officially rat free!
Nature put together a terrific video explaining the findings of the Nature paper yesterday. I want to spread it far and wide: If you look closely, you’ll see that the video was produced by the extremely talented Jackie Turner who was actually one of the undergrads that came to Mpala with me almost 10 years … More A great video explaining the Nature Paper
This is a re-post of an entry I wrote on the Nature Ecology and Evolution blog. Serendipity in science is often celebrated as the lightning flash of insight from a chance event – Newton’s apple encounter or Fleming’s moldy petri dishes. Our recent paper, Hurricane-induced selection on the morphology of an island lizard, resulted from … More Behind the paper: Hurricane-induced selection on the morphology of an island lizard
I’ve been sitting on this story for months and I’m excited to finally be able to share it. Remember that work we did in Turks and Caicos last fall? Well, we found something pretty remarkable: the hurricanes caused big shifts in the lizard populations living on both Pine Cay and Water Cay that may have … More Hurricane-induced selection on the morphology of an island lizard
Among my favorite emails to get are blurry snapshots of a mysterious lizard crawling across someone’s patio/deck/kitchen floor. This year has provided a bumper crop of lizard sightings in New England and I’ve been really happy to ID and introduce folks to their new lizard neighbors. Keep the emails coming! (colindonihue {at} gmail.com). I’ve been … More More Lizards in New England
This last week was the “10th Symposium on the Lacertids of the Mediterranean Basin and 2nd Symposium on Mediterranean Lizards.” I know… a mouthful. There was just about more conference title than participants. All told, about 50 people similarly excited about lizards living in Mediterranean habitats descended on Tel Aviv and shared their work. The … More A quick trip to Israel
Agios Artemios is the final island in the bay of Naoussa and a real challenge. Take a look at the footage and keep a weather eye on the divebombing seagulls! Note: I’ve switched from hosting my videos on Vimeo to YouTube so let me know if they still work for you. Vimeo seems “slicker” but … More Meet the islands: Agios Artemios
The trip to Redonda was a huge success and even more importantly, the restoration project is going tremendously well! Last year, Redonda was dusty and dry, overrun with goats and rats that were mowing through the vegetation and hurting the islands’ unique mix of plants and animals, including three endemic lizards. This year, the island … More We’re back from Redonda!
Colin Donihue 