How does the anole lizard (Anolis beckeri) see?
The anole lizard (Anolis beckeri) is a reptile in the order not recorded. Its eyes belong to the vision type Diurnal reptile tetrachromat.
Measured in this species: night vision and motion (flicker fusion). One measured dial: a value other than colour or sharpness is measured in this species; colour and sharpness are not measured here. Every value below carries its evidence level and sources; nothing is typed by hand.
What stands out
- It has 4 colour receptor classes, including ultraviolet; people have 3.
- It stops seeing flicker at 26.1 Hz, against 60 Hz for people in this dataset, so fast motion looks choppier to it.[6][5]
- Activity pattern: diurnal.
The six dials
Evidence levels: how the tiers work. "Measured" means a value measured in this species; "Estimated" values come from a close relative or an eye-size formula.
| Dial | Value | Evidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colour | Colour receptors 4 receptor classes: 365 nm (UVS), 462 nm (SWS (blue)), 503 nm (MWS (green)), 625 nm (LWS (long)) receptor set of nearest measured relative Anolis carolinensis (same genus Anolis) | Estimated | [1] |
| Ultraviolet yes: at least one receptor peaks in the ultraviolet | Estimated | ||
| Sharpness | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Field of view | No value in the catalogue. | ||
| Sharp zones (foveas) | Number of foveas 2 mode of species-v1 relatives in family Dactyloidae: Anolis carolinensis | Estimated | [2] |
| Fovea type central fovea, temporal | Estimated | [2] | |
| Night vision | Activity pattern diurnal mode of 2 rows (of 2 rows): Diurnal; diurnal | Measured (not re-verified) | [3][4] |
| Rods vs cones cone-dominated nocturnal -> rod-dominated; crepuscular / cathemeral / mixed -> mixed; diurnal -> cone-dominated | Derived | [3][4] | |
| Motion (flicker fusion) | Flicker fusion frequency 26.1 Hz median of 1 bright-light rows (behavioural/whole-eye ERG rows; all rows: [26.1]) | Measured | [5] |
Related animals
- Green anole same vision type
- Red-eared slider same vision type
- Anole lizards (Anolis cristatellus) same vision type
- Anole lizards (Anolis grahami) same vision type
- Anole lizards (Anolis gundlachi) same vision type
- Anole lizards (Anolis lineatopus) same vision type
More reptiles: all reptiles with measured vision data.
Sources
- Longcore T. 2023. A compendium of photopigment peak sensitivities and visual spectral response curves of terrestrial wildlife to guide design of outdoor nighttime lighting. Basic Appl Ecol 73:40-50. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2023.09.002. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8432720
- species_v1:Fleishman et al. 1988 / Makaretz & Levine 1980
- Meiri 2024. SquamBase: a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecol Biogeogr (data Zenodo 10602503).. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10602503
- Moura et al. 2024. A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22:e3002658. TetrapodTraits v3.0.1.. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22536349
- Inger R, Bennie J, Davies TW, Gaston KJ. 2014. Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE 9(5): e98631. Table 3. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0098631
- Healy K, McNally L, Ruxton GD, Cooper N, Jackson AL. 2013. Metabolic rate and body size are linked with perception of temporal information. Animal Behaviour 86:685-696. Table 1. doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.018
Every value cites its sources (all sources). Data: catalogue-v1, built 2026-09-29. Accuracy notes: how accurate is this?