A View Of The Anole Diversity Of The Colombian Caribbean Coast

Colombia holds more than 75 species of Anole lizards, making them the second most speciose vertebrate genus in our country next to the frog genus Pristimantis. Most species are shared with other countries of Central America and northern South America, but anoles have diverged in such an incredible way in Colombia that a large number of quite interesting and endemic species occur in the mountain highlands of the Andes, the insular portion of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean and the Chocó and Amazonian lowlands. Thirteen anole species have been registered for the Caribbean region, including lowlands and serranías. Most of these species have not been studied and the remaining habitats are disappearing at an accelerated rate, which is the reason why I find myself motivated to write this note, focusing on one of the least known neotropical lizard biotas.

Anolis Onca a desert sand dweller, Guajira, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Luis Alberto Rueda 2012

Sierra Nevada lonely twig anole. Anolis solitarius from Sierra Nevada de santa Marta (photo by Luis Alberto Rueda)

The Caribbean lowlands are one of the hottest and driest places in Colombia. This region extends from the northern Guajira deserts to the floodable plains of Cordoba. Its interior dominant habitats include seasonal dry forests, desert formations and riparian ecosystems. These habitats have been considered to be threatened by deforestation; only 1% of the dry forest formations still remain, which is why it is considered one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the nation next to cloud forests and paramos. Islands can be those land surfaces surrounded by water or those which have simply been isolated preventing migration of dispersal-limited species such as small vertebrates. Islands as the San Andres archipelago and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta have been isolated for thousands of years in such a way that most of the fauna that inhabits them is endemic. Anoles are not the exception; three endemics are registered for the cloud forests of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Anolis santamartae, A. menta, A. solitarius) and two species for the San Andres and Providencia islands (Anolis Pinchoti, A. concolor).

Anolis tropidogater From departamento del Atlantico. Photo by Juan Salvador Mendoza.

Anolis sulcifrons taken on 2012 in the Magdalena River Valley, Tolima Colombia. Photo by Juan Salvador.

The mountain refuge of Serranía de Perijá, located at the eastern border of the Caribbean region, is also characterized by a large number of reptilian species, but little information exists on anoles from this place. In the Guajira, there is a humid forest remnant connected to the Perijá system. This place is called Montes de Oca–a new species from this locality is just being described by the crew of Conservation International. Serranía de la Macuira is another interesting land island located at the northern portion of the Guajira; it has been poorly investigated. The presence of a new snake species for the country described by the herpetologists at Museo de Historia Natural ANDES suggests that this cloud forest island in the middle of a desert ocean can be home for new reptile species. Places like Paramillo in the South of Cordoba, Montes de Maria la Baja and Serranía de San Lucas in Bolivar are practically isolated by the internal political conflict in Colombia, being poorly studied centers of high biodiversity; anoles in these parts of the Caribbean have not been inventoried yet.
To categorize the origins of the anole fauna found in the Caribbean coast, we can mention four distribution areas. Some species are distributed through Central America and northern South America (A. frenatus, A. biporcatus, A. pentaprion, A. auratus). The second distribution group contains those species which are endemic of Colombia (A. sulcifrons, A. poecilopus), including those species endemic to the insular Caribbean and S.N de Santa Marta. The third group is formed by those species inhabiting the western slope of the Andes in Colombia and Ecuador (A. maculiventris). The last group is set by those species that inhabit the eastern slope of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela (A. tropidogaster, A. onca). All these species reach

the Caribbean coast of Colombia shows incredible cases of coexistence. The lowland community that I have observed in the northern and central portion of the region (departments of Atlántico, Bolivar, Magdalena and Cesar) is made up of 5 species (A. auratus, A. biporcatus, A. sulcifrons, A. tropidogaster, A. vittigerus). This community shows a very structured assemblage of sympatric anoles, being of possible interest for ecological studies. Research on anole ecology and evolutionary history may reveal important information on conservation priorities for our Colombian species. None of the mentioned species has been evaluated for possible threats, but it is evident that much of the habitat has been transformed; still there is no information on how vulnerable these communities are to urban, agricultural or industrial expansion nor to climate change.

Green crown anole. Anolis biporcatus, from Sierra Nevada de SantaMarta (Photo by Luis Alberto Rueda).

Anolis vittigerus from Departamento de Cesár. Photo by Juan Salvador Mendoza.

To write about the anoles of the Caribbean, it is important to talk about the researchers who have published what it is known from this particular lizard fauna. A. Ruthven, G. Boulenger and E. Cope were famous herpetologists who described most of the Central American and north Colombian species. These brave foreigners arrived to our country even where roads did not exist; for example, Ruthven described Anolis solitarius from the sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in 1916. Furthermore, Colombian Caribbean anoles where collected and described by Lasallist Niceforo Maria, E. Williams, J.V. Rueda, S.C Ayala and F. Castro. The first published compendium on Colombian anoles appeared in 1986 (Saurios de Colombia: Lista Actualizada, y Distribucion de Ejemplares Colombianos en Los Museos. Published by S.C. Ayala). This author presented the list of the known saurians for the country, specifying the collections in which the vouchers were deposited. Later on Ayala and Castro worked on the book called “Saurios de Colombia” which was never formally published, but a copy of this work has been circulating around, passed from hand to hand to all national lizard researchers. In this copy, the Anolis chapter is missing. Why? Because it was in the making of this book that several new species where described. So the authors intelligently did not include all this data in this version of the draft. I have personally spoken to Dr. Castro and other authorities about this situation and asked them, “why hasn’t this book been published yet?” Their answer is simple and predictable… the people who may finance this work are willing to pay a very small price. Taking into account that the project for the publishing of this book begun in 1975, this is a priceless effort, comprising four decades of knowledge that the authors do not want to give away for free. All Colombian herpetologists are still waiting for the official version of this magnificent work, for it to be part of our bookshelves. But I guess we may have to wait a bit more.

Thanks to Luis Alberto Rueda for contributing with Guajira and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta species photos.

Anolis auratus. Photo by Juan salvador mendoza 2012.

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Juan Salvador Mendoza

Latest posts by Juan Salvador Mendoza (see all)

• Observations On Two Colombian Endemic Anoles - October 30, 2012
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