Hey Folks,
Here is just a little task for you to get rid of unnecessary time. I made a collection of some Lesser Antillen Anoles from pictures, I took over the years or that hav ebeen given to me.
Can you name the species, or even the local morph/subspecies?
additional information: two of the pictures show females.
and here again with higher resolution.
Viele Grüße from Germany
Latest posts by Gregor Weidlich (see all)
Skip Lazell
Great stuff! Some are clearly marmoratus, of course, including a nominate, nominal. Are you saying all are the same species?? Bet they are not. If so, marmoratus of couse….
Skip
Gregor Weidlich
Thak you so much! I’m a very big fan of your work on the Lesser Antillean Anoles, by the way. And of course you are very right: Some of the pictures show A. marmoratus- forms, others do not. Sorry for the confusion. I guess in english language there is no distinction between the singular and plural of the word species!? I have always found that problematic. So of course, the pictures show Anolis from many of the Lesser Antillean Islands, all within the range of the bimaculatus- and roquet-series.
Joe Burgess
With all the different locals on the Basse Terre side it was a bit difficult, but I’ll give this a try…
1. A. richardi,
2. A. marmoratus (possibly caryae)
3. A. roquet saline
4. A. marmoratus X speciosus – vicinity of Petit-Bourg
5. A. oculatus montanus
6. A. bimaculatus
7. A. m. terraeltae (I think)
8. A. trinitatis
9. A. marmoratus X alliaceus X girafus – vicinity of St Claude
10. A. m stetosus
11. A. m. alliaceus
12. A. m. inornatus
13. A. sabanus
14. A. ferreus
15. A. marmoratus X alliaceus – vicinity of Trois Rivieres
16. A. marmoratus X alliaceus
17. A. bimaculatus female
18. A. r. summus – NE slopes of Mt Pelee
19. A. aeneus
20. A. m. girafus
21. A. m. marmoratus – vicinity of Capesterre
22. A. r. summus – S slopes of Mt Pelee
23. A. extremus
24. A. m. desiradei
25. A. roqet female (probably zebrilus)
26. A. oculatus winstoni
27. A. m girafus
Joe Burgess
Actually after a second look I think i’d change my answer on #19 to A.roquet – NE coast.
# 17 could be A.leachi female as well?
K.ra
I’m certain that #2 is actually A.lividus from Montserrat,and that #10 may be A.m speciosus instead of stetosus as the head of this subspecies is usually brown not blue .
Joe Burgess
I will not disagree with #2, as I have not been to Montserrat and have only seen a handful of pictures of A.lividus.
Also, #10 could be speciosus. I have attached an image of stetosus from Guadeloupe showing the same blue suffusions in the nape area.
The marmoratus are so variable from kilometer to kilometer who can say. Let’s see if we get a reply back from the original post on the species.
Joe Burgess
A.m.stetosus
Martha Muñoz
I agree with #2 being A. lividus from Montserrat.
I think 15 and 16 might be A. m. marmoratus x. A. m. girafus. I can see why Joe would say alliaeceus, but don’t those have only a few black spots? I mgiht be totally wrong on this.
I think #10 is A. m. speciosus, although it could, as was mentioned, also be A. m. setosus. The setosus scales are pretty unique (pyramidal), so it’s much easier to tell them apart in hand.
Reynold Boyce
Hello Anole enthusiasts,
I hope this is not too late to join the Lesser Antillean Quiz. But since viewing Gregor’s wonderful pics I dived into my collection of Anole slides taken over a period of 15-odd years in almost every Anole endemic island. Using Losos ‘ Phylogenetic Analysis of Character Displacement’ (1990, Fig. 1) I have tried to retrace each island-bank to photodocument each different species. So far there are four locations I have not been.
Trying to match up my slides with Gregor’s has been a task. Firstly, in that early period ( 2004) I never realise that A.marmoratus had evolved so many phylogenetic forms. So being primarily a native plant seeker, once I photographed the form close to my guesthouse (St.Rose, NE Basse Terre) I considered by my Anole job complete. However, an even more confusing factor developed as one go Anole searching up the islands. The issue of invasive species from neighbouring islands throws one off. Lately we were absorbed with appearance of A. sagrei as far south as Grenada. (See my posting on Sept. 2nd ’13.) Going through my slides over the past few days I seem to be coming across pics of A. wattsi both in St.Lucia and possibly in St. Kitts. Could the presence of invasives further taint the original appearance of native species? In other words is polymorphism an enigma merely in Guadeloupe?
Here are my guestimates of 13 of the 27 pics based on the matching with my pics:
1) A. richardii (Tobago /Grenada/Grenadine Is.)
2) A. lividus (Monsterrat) 3) A. roquet ( Martinique)
4) A. marmoratus ( Guadeloupe) 5) A. oculatus (Dominica)
7) A. bimarculatus ( St. Kitts) 8) A. trinitatis ( St. Vincent)
10) A. marmoratus (Guadeloupe) 12. A. extremus (Barbados)
13) A. sabanus (Saba) 14. A. wattsi ? (Antigua)
16) A. leachii (Antigua) 22) A. extremus ? (Barbados) 23) A. luciae (St. Lucia)
Gregor Weidlich
Thank you everybody for your participation.
I would like to dissolve the puzzle now:
1) Anolis richardi (Grenada, unknown locality)
2) Anolis lividus (Montserrat, unknown locality)
3) Anolis roquet salinei (Martinique, St. Anne)
4) Anolis marmoratus marmoratus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Neuf Château)
5) Anolis oculatus cf. cabritensis (Dominica, Westcoast)
6) Anolis bimaculatus (St. Eustatius, unknown locality)
7) Anolis terraealtae terraealtae (Les Saintes (Terre-de-haut), Fort Napoleon)
8) Anolis trinitatis (St. Vincent, probably Kingstown)
9) Anolis marmoratus alliaceus x A. m. marmoratus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Trois
Rivières)
10) Anolis marmoratus speciosus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Goyave)
11) Anolis marmoratus alliaceus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Rivière Sens)
12) Anolis marmoratus inornatus (Guadeloupe (Grande Terre), Anse Bertrand)
13) Anolis sabanus (Saba, unknown locality)
14) Anolis ferreus (Marie-Galante, Courbaril)
15) Anolis marmoratus alliaceus x A. m. marmoratus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre),
Trois Rivières)
16) Anolis marmoratus alliaceus x A. m. marmoratus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre),
Pointe Violon)
17) Anolis leachii female (Antigua-Bank, unknown locality)
18) Anolis roquet summus (Martinique, Macouba)
19) Anolis roquet (Martinique, Château Duboc)
20) Anolis marmoratus girafus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Pointe Noire)
21) Anolis marmoratus marmoratus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Capesterre)
22) Anolis roquet summus (Guadeloupe, South slopes of Monte Pelee)
23) Anolis extremus (Barbados, unknown locality)
24) Anolis desiradei (La Désirade, Beauséjour)
25) Anolis roquet zebrilus (Martinique, Saint-Pierre)
26) Anolis oculatus winstoni (Dominica, Eastcoast)
27) Anolis marmoratus girafus (Guadeloupe (Basse Terre), Marigot)
Gregor Weidlich
Regarding the confusion between Anolis marmoratus alliaceus and A. m. girafus:
These black spots are typical for A. m. alliaceus, but not for A. m. girafus. Typical for A. m. girafus are white spots or lines. There are however animals with both, white and black spots/lines. These animals can be found approximately at Vieux Habitants. It is in my eyes a bit unlucky, that the holotype of Anolis marmoatus girafus originates exactly from this localty at the Westcoast of Basse Terre, which might contribute to the confusion. I will make a posting on this interestion issue some day later.
regarding A. m. setosus or A. m. speciosus: The coloration of both subspecies does not differ from each other in most populations. You can tell by the smoothness of the surface of this animal, it is a speciosus though even from the distance. Also, I found that A. m. setosus has some kind of parallel lines of scalation especially across the back and the sides that may look like stripes.
regarding all the animals from southern Basse Terre, Guadeloupe: it is also to me absolutely amazing, how much variation there is within this little area of just about 15 by 15 kilometers. It is not only that the spotting varies literally from tree to tree, but also, you go 5km along a transect and the animals look really different. then you go another 5km and the animals look different again. A. marmoratus is almost like Oophaga pumilio in this region. It is hard to tell, how stable the popuations are and how strong the human influence in this region has been.
polymorphism (polychromatism) is not just an enigma on Guadeloupe, but on all bigger Islands of the Lesser Antilles that have different climatic zones due to mountain ridges and/or are made up of more than one precursor island that came together in the past. Raising and fallig sea-levels also might be an issue.