Figure 5 - uploaded by Luis M Diaz
Content may be subject to copyright.
Postmental scales in five species of Anolis in the A. isolepis subgroup. (A) Anolis viridulus (holotype); (B) A. isolepis (MNHNCu 6197); (C) A. altitudinalis (MNHNCu 4763); (D) A. oporinus (MNHNCu 6206); (E) A. toldo (MNHNCu 5157).
Source publication
Green anoles of the Anolis carolinensis group are divided into the carolinensis and isolepis subgroups according to a consensus of
molecular phylogenies. Species in the Anolis isolepis subgroup (A. altitudinalis, A. isolepis, A. oporinus, and A. toldo) are endemic to Cuba
and the highest diversity is concentrated in forested areas of eastern Cuba...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... (e.g. Sierra Maestra and Cabo Cruz) that lack the white supralabial line usually present elsewhere. Both species overlap in size but A. viridulus sp. nov. averages larger than A. isolepis (mean = 43.4 mm SVL in A. viridulus sp. nov. vs. 39.2 mm [35.9-43.0] in A. isolepis) and have modally 4 postmental scales (4-5) vs 6 (4-6) in the later (n=34) (Fig. 5); scales between second canthals modally 3 (2-5) in A. viridulus sp. nov. vs. 5 (3-7) in A. isolepis. Anolis oporinus and A. toldo are two larger sister species (maximum SVL 52.8 mm in A. oporinus and 61.2 mm in A. toldo), with a straight wide postlabial white line shortly extended beyond the forearms insertion; conspicuous body bands ...
Citations
... And doubts did arise. Most notably, the species was not included in the study of "all extant species of Anolis" by Poe et al. (2017), and more recently, owing to the poor condition of the only known specimen, Díaz et al. (2022) concluded that it was appropriate to consider A. incredulus a species inquirenda-a species of doubtful identity needing further investigation (ICzN 1999). ...
... Note that although the current name of the museum in which these specimens are housed is the National Museum of Natural history (NMNh), the standard acronym used to refer to specimens in the collection of Division of Amphibians and reptiles is "uSNM" (Sabaj 2020), based on the earlier name united States National Museum. Because of the poor condition of the holotype of Anolis incredulus and the difficulties of shipping specimens between the united States and Cuba, we did not examine the holotype of A. incredulus directly, although photographs were provided by Manuel Iturriaga and others have been published by Díaz et al. (2022). ...
... We will use the informal name "Anolis isolepis species group" for a clade including A. isolepis and its closest relatives. this group is currently thought to include five extant species (phylogenies of Poe et al. 2017;Díaz et al. 2022): A. isolepis Cope 1861, A. altitudinalis garrido 1985, A. toldo Fong & garrido 2000, A. oporinus garrido & hedges 2001, and A. viridulus Díaz et al. 2022. As the members of this group are highly similar, we will emphasize comparisons with the species that occur in the Sierra Maestra: A. isolepis, A. altitudinalis, and A. oporinus. ...
The species Anolis incredulus was proposed based on a single, poorly preserved specimen from the Sierra Maestra (mountain range) of southeastern Cuba. As its name suggests, this species was considered likely to raise doubts when it was first proposed, and it has been explicitly treated by some recent authors as a species inquirenda (a species of doubtful identity). Here we report on a second specimen of Anolis incredulus discovered in the amphibian and reptile collection of the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) that was collected more than 100 years before the holotype. We describe this specimen in detail and compare it both with the description of the holotype of A. incredulus and with presumed closely related Cuban species, providing evidence that it matches closely with the former and is distinct from the latter, thus corroborating the status of A. incredulus as a valid species. We also score and measure the specimen for sets of morphological characters to make inferences about its phylogenetic relationships and ecology (structural habitat use). Our results indicate that Anolis incredulus is likely a member of a clade of mostly Cuban twig-anole species and that it is a member of the twig ecomorph category, although its reported green coloration suggests either an erroneous ecomorph assignment or a difference in color from that of most other species of Cuban twig anoles.
... The occurrence of A. isolepis in this area falls within the realm of possibility; however, given numerous incongruences, omissions, and misidentifications found in the action plans cited by Rodríguez Schettino et al. (2013) from all over the country (see also Rodríguez-Cabrera and Blanco Morciego 2021), unverified records from such sources should be confirmed. Also of note is that Díaz et al. (2022) published a map with dots representing localities of A. isolepis across Cuba, including a dot in the eastern region of the Guamuhaya Massif. However, many localities indicated were not addressed in the text and apparently represent "author's visual records," a repeated practice capable of generating considerable confusion in the herpetological literature (see also Díaz and Cádiz 2020;Díaz et al. 2021). ...
The Dwarf Green Anole, Anolis isolepis, has been regarded as one of the rarest anoles in Cuba. Nonetheless, it has a relatively wide distribution and, although most records are restricted to eastern Cuba, some additional records for the central region of the island exist and, interestingly, only a few records of this species exist between the eastern and central populations. The latter might be due to a combination of extensive deforestation across those provinces and a lack of surveys. In central Cuba, it has been recorded from a few localities on the western side of the Guamuhaya Massif, the so-called Trinidad Range. Herein we report A. isolepis from Lomas de Banao Ecological Reserve in the westernmost Guamuhaya Massif.
... Among vertebrates, reptiles are the second most diverse group with more than 160 species and a degree of endemism of 88% . With 65 species, the genus Anolis is the dominant reptile group, and can be found in a great variety of habitats across the entire archipelago (Henderson and Powell, 2009;Rodríguez-Schettino et al., 2013;Díaz et al., 2022). The climate is tropical and it is influenced by insularity and the proximity to the continent. ...
Geographical ranges and physiological tolerances of species are correlated, and it can be expected that widespread species encounter higher climatic variation across their distributions than restricted species. Widespread species should consequently be more tolerant to extreme or variable weather conditions, and may have the ability to better conserve their current geographical ranges under future climate change scenarios. We tested this hypothesis by studying the relationship between the climatic variation experienced by restricted and widespread Anolis lizards from different ecomorphs and regions of Cuba and the distributional shifts induced by climate change. We selected seven bioclimatic variables from WorldClim to characterize the realized climatic niche of 12 Cuban anoles, where the coefficients of variation of each variable were taken as a measure of climatic variation. We used niche modeling to predict changes in suitable habitats under future climatic scenarios. We found that species from Eastern Cuba occupy areas with the highest climatic variation, likely related to the topography of the region. Crown giant anoles experienced habitats with lower climatic variation in comparison with species from other ecomorphs, which together with their tree canopy habitat and large body size may represent a disadvantage to face changing climates. All species will experience a severe decrease in their habitat suitability, with the Western species being predicted to lose a higher proportion of suitable habitat. Combining niche modeling with physiological data would better predict the effects of climate change on Cuban lizards and might allow taking management actions for species and habitats to mitigate the possible negative impacts of this phenomenon.
