Anoles, And Other Herpetofauna, Of Mindo, Ecuador

Anolis fraseri. Photo by pbertner.

We recently had a post on the rediscovery of the horned anole of Ecuador, Anolis proboscis, which is found only in the environs of Mindo, Ecuador. Mindo is a lovely spot whose economy is strongly focused on ecotourism, but in a very rustic, old school way, making it a delightful place to visit, even more so because of its anoles. The horned anole, of course, is the star, but there are several others there as well, such as the crown-giant A. fraseri and the incredibly common A. gemmosus, which can be found sleeping in high numbers, yet is hard to find during the day.

A sleeping gem. Photo by Jonathan Losos

The Tropical Herpetology website has a series of pages on the reptiles and amphibians of Mindo, which includes a list of all species as well as specific pages on some of the species, including A. proboscis, A. fraseri, and A. gemmosus. The site also has wonderful photographs. This is not the first post on the Tropical Herpetology website–we covered their pages on the species at Chical, near the Ecuador-Colombia border, last October. It’s a great site.

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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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