New Mainland Green Anole Recognized

Anolis biporcatus, one of the prettiest of anoles. Photo by Thomas Marent

Anolis biporcatus is, if I’m not mistaken, the largest mainland beta/Norops anoles, attaining a length of ca. 100 mm snout-vent. In addition, it has an enormous geographic distribution, ranging from southern Mexico to Ecuador. In a new paper in Salamandra, a team of New Mexican and Ecuadorian biologists headed by Janet Armstead have sliced off part of the species, raising the Ecuadorian/Colombian A. biporcatus parvauritus to species status. They make this decision based on a detailed analysis of morphology and molecular data. Their data also find deep genetic subdivisions within A. biporcatus in Costa Rica, suggesting that there may be more cryptic species awaiting recognition.

A key difference between the species is the color of the distal scales on the dewlap of males, white in biporcatus, black in parvauritus.

Note, too, that like many mainland anoles, the males and females have very different dewlaps.

Here’s the distribution of the two species:

• Author
• Recent Posts

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.

Latest posts by Jonathan Losos (see all)

• Third Mexican Amber Anolis Lizard Discovered - January 14, 2025
• Anolis Lizard Research Paves the Way for Advances in Treatment of Human Prostate Cancer - January 10, 2025
• When Two Lizards Meet for the First Time, Scientists Witness Evolution in Action - January 3, 2025