Anole karyotypes from Gorman and Atkins, Herpetologica, 1968.
George Gorman, who pioneered the use of molecular tools to study anole phylogenetics from the late 1960’s to the early 1980’s, asks:
“Why not examine karyotypes of Dactyloa?”
He says:
“In the 1960’s and ‘70’s, before the DNA revolution, the systematic examination of karyotypes of reptilian taxa mushroomed, and, to some extent helped orient our thinking about relationships among various clades. This was certainly the case within Anolis at various hierarchical levels, from species determination to definition of distinct species groups. To my knowledge, there has been very little added to our knowledge about karyotypes of mainland Anolis that Etheridge placed in the latifrons series of Alpha Anolis, now frequently referred to as the Dactyloa clade. (if these are long-lost terms, Etheridge’s Beta anoles are the Norops section; all other lineages are within his “Alpha” section).
Background
There is a very pervasive, either primitive or convergently arrived at, karyotype among the Sauria…consisting of 12 metacentric macrochromosomes, and 24 microchromosomes. This karyotype may be found in many families and in all species of many genera within families. This was also the known published karyotype of A. carolinensis….the only anole that had been examined until about 1965.
Here’s a brief summary of what followed:
