What are anoles?
Anoles are tropical lizards, related to related to iguanas, that live in the warmer regions of the Americas and Caribbean.
What is a dewlap?
The dewlap is a little flap of skin on the underside of the neck of anoles. It can be contracted and retracted using special cartilage.
Why do they have a dewlap?
Anoles are not very vocal, so the dewlap provides another communication tool that can be waved like a flag. When an anole is angry, it flashes its dewlap repeatedly, at the same time performing push-ups to make itself look bigger and more intimidating. A male displaying to a female does the same thing to look more strong and appealing.
Can aoles see in colour?
Anoles have incredible colour vision, able to see ultraviolet light and detect complex patterns – useful for distinguishing between more than 400 species across the tropics of the Americas and Caribbean, all flashing their dewlaps.
Each of those species has a specific pattern and colour combination on its dewlap that makes it recognisable to members of its own species. (Two species have lost their dewlaps, and have found other ways to communicate.
Main image © Getty Images
