Hello everyone. In January 2018 I encountered an anole that superficially resembles A. lyra at Recinto de los Suenos in southwest-central Colombia above Cali in the Cordillera Occidental at 3.56810 N x -76.58848 W and 1900 m ASL. However, this species has only been documented from the Pacific lowlands to my knowledge, and although the similar-looking A. vittigerus does occur on the in the Cordillera Occidental, it has only been documented far to the north (over 150 mi / 250 km). This individual lacks the characteristic black spot in the middle of the dewlap of both species. I also found A. antonii, A. eulaemus, and A. ventrimaculatus at the same site, but none of those species even remotely resemble this individual, of which I found only one specimen. Any thoughts on its ID would be welcome. Thanks.
John
- Help ID an Anole from Cordillera Occidental of Colombia - June 3, 2022
Gianna Coppola
My only thought is that maybe it is a subspecies? That would only make a lot of sense if a lot were found in the same general area. Another possibility is that it is either A. vittigerus or A. lyra, but it is missing the spot due to some genetic mutation. It is definitely a very interesting looking anole. Do you know whether A. vittigerus or A. lyra juveniles and/or females have the black spot? I know some characteristics are only present in the males of the species.
JOHN
Thanks for your response. To my knowledge, all mature males (e.g., those that have developed a dewlap) of both A. lyra and A. vittigerus are “supposed” to have a black spot on the middle of the dewlap. The male I found was not a particularly large individual, but it definitely possessed a dewlap, and thus the black spot “should” have been present. I know of no variants of either species in which the black spot is absent. By contrast, females of both species have a white dewlap with a vague dark spot, and thus are very distinctive from the males. I have found A. vittigerus in the Cordillera Central up near Medellin at 300 km to the north (and in Panama 500 km to the north); they have not been documented much further to the south. By contrast, the closet reliable records of A. lyra are from only about 40 km away, but at half the altitude (1,000 vs. 2,000 m ASL), plus the lack of a black spot on the dewlap makes definitive identification problematic. It could be an undocumented variant of either species, in which case, based on geographic proximity, it would “probably” be A. lyra,
I night have overlooked other individuals of this species, but even so, it would have been vastly outnumbered by the dozens of individuals of A. antonii and A. ventrimaculatus that I found over the same 2-day period at that site, so it appears to be highly uncommon, at least in that area, so perhaps it is just an uncommon morph restricted to that remote area and thus has gone undocumented all this time.