Anolis eewi Rediscovered?

César Barrio (Doc Frog to those of you who know him on Facebook or through his photography) recently posted this:

Here’s more information from César:

“Well, It is not completely sure it is eewi. Anolis eewi was described from Toronó, part of Chimantá tepuy, the neighbor tepuy of Auyan, where this one was found. This individual was at the same altitude (around 2000 m) and conditions as eewi. Norops planiceps is a widespread species in northern South America, and is very variable, but the proportions and the general feeling of my nose as a taxonomist told me this was different. Probably the best way to present it is as cf. eewi, even now eewi is synonym of planiceps.”

The last sentence reminds me to point out that eewi was named after Ernest E. Williams, who was often known by his initials, EEW. Williams then wrote a paper that sunk the species into what was, at that time, A. chrysolepis (if I recall correctly). While searching for the Williams paper, I came across another paper published by Williams in Breviora in 1996 reporting specimens of A. chrysolepis eewi obsercved (collected?) in the Venezuelan tepuis.

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Jonathan Losos

Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.

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