Yellow throat, paired chalk sacs, and flattened tail typifies the wonderful Flat-tailed Day Gecko.
The common name says it all. Unlike several of the medium-sized lookalike day geckos, there can be no question about the identification of this beauty. The flattened tail, present on adults of both sexes, is immediately discernible and diagnostic. Original tails are fringed, regenerated tails are flattened but not fringed. Hatchlings and juveniles have a rounder tail. Three red bars cross the head and 3 elongate red markings are present on the lower back. Always a hobbyist favorite, this species was never imported in large numbers. Like other members of this large genus, this species is diurnal and feeds on nectar and pollen as well as occasional small insects. It is said by some to be a rainforest dweller, but others say it is most common more in the open on coconut palms and occasionally on bananas.

In its restricted range in eastern Madagascar, the Flat-tailed Day Gecko is said to dwell in family units of a single male and a harem of several females. Apparently subadults of both sexes are tolerated by the dominant male until their maturity. Glaw and Vences have stated that even the hatchlings of this taxon are agonistic.

Males of this species attain a length of about 6 inches, females top out at about 5 inches. Several clutches are produced annually by adult females. Eggs may be produced singly or in pairs.

Patti took this photo of the beautiful Cuban Side-blotched Curly-tailed Lizard.
Curly-tailed Lizards are well known to herpers and even non-herper visitors to southeastern Florida. They were purposely introduced in the 1940s in the hopes they would eradicate the sugarcane beetle.

They didn’t. But in one way or another Curly-tails made their way from the cane-fields to the Palm Beach area and found the sandy soil of that region much to their liking. Populations thrived and grew..From there they have spread westward and southward, and as far northward as winter temperatures would allow. The form found in Florida is a Bahaman subspecies, Leiocephalus carinatus armouri. When we had a chance to travel in Cuba, we had opportunity to see 4 additional species, some of rather plain coloration and patterning, but others that were quite strikingly colored.

Under the guidance of Dr. Luis M. Diaz, we have been able to see several species and subspecies of curlytails, some of which, by the way, do not curl their tails much at all. These have varied from several subspecies of Cuban Striped Curlytails, L. stictogaster ssp. to the Cuban Curlytail, L. cubensis, the beautiful Cuban Side-blotched Curlytail, L. macropus, and others. All species were amidst outcroppings, rock-fields, sidewalks (including downtown Habana) and/or sandy beaches.

The lizards of this primarily insectivorous genus are oviparous, with females having 2 or 3 clutches of 2 to 5 eggs during each breeding season. The clutches are about 2 weeks apart.

The beautiful White-chinned Giant Anole, Anolis flavigularis, is now a full species.
With 60 (plus or minus a few—the taxonomists are still at work!), Cuba, if you don’t already know, is “anole-central.” These vary from 3 ½ to 5-inch-long twig anoles, that, even if you’re looking for them are difficult to see, to the 12+ inch long giant and chameleon anoles that blend superbly with the foliage and trunks among which they dwell.

Following our very successful stop at Soroa,, our next venture took us westward to the beautiful town of Vinales. Although a great stop for both herping and birding, we were hoping to see at least 5 herp taxa on that first night, 4 Anolis species, and 1 snake. We succeeded on the anoles and the target snake plus 1.

The anoles included 2 in the subgenus Chamaeolis, the “gnarly” Western Bearded Anole, A. (C.) barbatus and the Short Bearded Anole, A. (C.) chamaeleonides, (these are big and different looking than “normal” anoles), plus 2 typical anoles, the big tree dwelling, white-chinned A. flavigularis and the smaller tan and blue, cliff dwelling A. bartschi. The “target” snake seen was the Broad-banded Trope, Tropidophis feicki, a species most wanted by our group. Additionally, a Guaniguanico Racerlet, Arrhyton tanyplectum, was found. This latter is, as suggested by its name, an alert and fast rear-fanged species of small size.

The weather was very dry and it was perhaps for that reason that we failed to see the big Giant Robber Frog, Eleutherodactylus zeus. But we’ll try again.