Photo by Luis Diaz.
By browsing a PDF showing the amphibians and reptiles of Cuba, I found a picture of a beautiful anole:
Anolis equestris potior.
After doing some research, I was able to find very little info about it. It was described in 1975 by Schwartz and Thomas and lives only on Cayo Santa Maria (province Villa Clara)! It would take on the beautiful blue color during stress or “emotion,” just as some other species of anoles take on a dark phase.
The scientist Angel Arias (specialist of the Center for Studies and Environmental Services = CESAM) estimated the population at less than 10 000 individuals, and that it would decrease because of the roads dividing its range. The latter required an area of 600 hectares of forest primarily for the protection of this anole and its neighbor Anolis Jubar santamariae also endemic to Santa Maria. Of course many other species benefit from this development.
Some photo of this island can be found here.
Statement of the island weather
The zoological collection to the Academy of Sciences of Cuba (CZACC = Zoologica Colecciones the Academia de Ciencias de Cuba) has a holotype.
IZ 3098 CZACC = 4.3351.
Cayo Santa María, Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago, provincia de Las Villas, Cuba. Female.
October 19, 1969. Orlando H. Luis Garrido and V. Moreno.
The subspecies is classified as a “critically endangered” (with 6 other species or subspecies) in Cuba
http://www.ecosis.cu/cenbio/biodiversidadcuba/varios/listarojafauna_cuba_amenaza.htm
Reading – Source
PDF (English) on the Anolis equestris http://caribbeanahigroup.org/pdf/solenodon1/11anolis_equestris.pdf
PDF (Spanish) on the state wildlife conservation in terrestrial ecosystems in the archipelago Sabana-Camaguey
http://www.undp.org.cu/documentos/libros/sabana/cap4_2.pdf
PDF about the archipelago Sabana-Camaguey.
archipelago Sabana-Camaguey
Keep/kept : Anolis carolinensis, Anolis coelestinus, Anolis cooki, Anolis porcatus, Anolis oculatus winstoni, Anolis sagrei, Anolis valencienni, Anolis vermiculatus.
- Anolis sagrei Plays Dead - December 15, 2016
- The classification is here! - December 26, 2012
- Albino Anole - December 15, 2012
K.ra
Strange!, according to the animal in the photo is Anolis equestris cyaneus.
Is there any info as to which is the original source of that picture?
K.ra
It appears that the photo may have been taken by a co-author of the pdf.