Do you know anoles? They’re having a moment

Water anoles are remarkable creatures. Perched along the banks of steep waterfalls in the forests of Panama and Costa Rica, they’re often seen bending and peering down at rushing streams below as if daring themselves to jump. They could, if they wanted to. With a natural scuba-like ability that lets them stay submerged for minutes, these lizards have long fascinated scientists. But new research reveals another, subtler secret: Shifts in their skin color quietly signal their health and vitality.

Kelly Wuthrich, a Ph.D. biology student in Christian Cox's lab at FIU's Institute of Environment, is decoding this secret language of color change, focusing particularly on female water anoles (Anolis aquaticus). Beneath dense green canopies and towering trees of the Costa Rican jungle, she sought to uncover a meaning beyond camouflage, a common tactic lizards use to hide from predators. Her findings, recently published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, reveal that females in better physical condition display bluer, less green lateral stripes. These hues may attract potential mates, but they could also reflect the health of the ecosystem, hinting at environmental changes shaping the species.

“People just assume that females are dull in coloration and that they’re not using their signals for male attraction or any sort of communication,” said Wuthrich. “But that may not be true.”

Through these delicate shifts, females could be communicating their overall condition, signaling fitness and readiness to reproduce. That glow, however, is fleeting and fades quickly under stress, whether from poor nutrition, environmental pressures, predator encounters or the intense energy demands of egg production.

“If environments are changing, that can alter their ability to blend in with their surroundings, making them more vulnerable to predators, or even humans,” Wuthrich said.

For her, tracking the evolution of female water anoles offers a deeper understanding of how biology works and how the world itself is changing.

“Historically, males have dominated the field and have been the focus of a lot of studies,” said Wuthrich. “I think it’s important to fully understand the extent that females may play with their own signaling, even if it’s not as flashy as males.”

Could color changes also play a role in female-female communication? That’s what Wuthrich hopes to explore next. She wants to understand how female anoles interact with one another and what that might reveal about the genus as a whole. With more than 400 species spread across Central and South America, the Caribbean and the United States, these discoveries could have far-reaching implications.

“It would give us insights into the evolution of that species itself,” said Wuthrich. “And that matters. Gaining an understanding of our natural world is important. This is where we live, where we come from and we’re all distantly related to each other, even plants.”  

Wuthrich, who will graduate in Spring 2026, would like to return to Costa Rica in search of the elusive females, determined to uncover the subtle signals that have, until now, gone largely unnoticed.