A Second Anolis incredulus Specimen Appears!

mCT reconstruction of the second specimen (USNM 5095) of Anolis incredulus (from de Queiroz et al. 2023).

Anolis incredulus, a poorly known Cuban species from the angusticeps species group, is lonely no more. In a recent paper, de Queiroz et al. (2023) report the discovery of an additional specimen of A. incredulus collected more than 100 years prior to the collection of the holotype. The additional specimen (USNM 5095) was tucked away in the Smithsonian’s collection and wasn’t discovered until co-author Esther Langan noticed that specimens in a series labeled as A. guazuma actually appeared to comprise two separate taxa. Upon investigation, one specimen in particular–USNM 5095–was concluded to likely represent the second specimen of A. incredulus. In their paper, de Queiroz et al. redescribe the morphology of this species, infer its phylogenetic position using morphological characters, and note the paucity of ecological data for this anole. Give it a read, it’s open access in Zootaxa!

New literature alert!

No longer in doubt: Discovery of a second specimen corroborates the validity of Anolis incredulus Garrido and Moreno 1998 (Reptilia, Iguania)

In Zootaxa

de Queiroz, Huie, and Langan (2023)

Abstract:

The species Anolis incredulus was proposed based on a single, poorly preserved specimen from the Sierra Maestra (mountain range) of southeastern Cuba. As its name suggests, this species was considered likely to raise doubts when it was first proposed, and it has been explicitly treated by some recent authors as a species inquirenda (a species of doubtful identity). Here we report on a second specimen of Anolis incredulus discovered in the amphibian and reptile collection of the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution) that was collected more than 100 years before the holotype. We describe this specimen in detail and compare it both with the description of the holotype of A. incredulus and with presumed closely related Cuban species, providing evidence that it matches closely with the former and is distinct from the latter, thus corroborating the status of A. incredulus as a valid species. We also score and measure the specimen for sets of morphological characters to make inferences about its phylogenetic relationships and ecology (structural habitat use). Our results indicate that Anolis incredulus is likely a member of a clade of mostly Cuban twig-anole species and that it is a member of the twig ecomorph category, although its reported green coloration suggests either an erroneous ecomorph assignment or a difference in color from that of most other species of Cuban twig anoles.