Ongoing Research: Dominican Republic field trip

The goal of the trip was to assist another postdoc, James Stroud, with his research there. I’m always interested in seeing, first hand, the setting and composition of different vertebrate communities. How do the various species interact? How much do they overlap in resource use? Essentially, I often feel like gaining firsthand experience with a study system reinforces my understanding of the theory and literature that describes it. I also love seeing new places and critters.

The forests of Barahona DR did not disappoint. Lizards were everywhere. And several of them were just fantastically weird little beasts. Take, for example, the twig anole - Anolis sheplani. This is truly one of the weirdest little vertebrates i’ve ever encountered.