Two new Andean species of Anolis lizard (Iguanidae: Dactyloinae) from southern Ecuador
Author
Torres-Carvajal, Omar
Author
Ayala-Varela, Fernando P.
Author
Lobos, Simón E.
Author
Poe, Steven
Author
Narváez, Andrea E.
text
Journal of Natural History
2017
2017-11-19
52
13 - 16
1067
1089
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2017.1391343
journal article
10.1080/00222933.2017.1391343
1464-5262
4780017
E55FA804-E3FD-4412-8FEB-5234E29E272D
Anolis hyacinthogularis
sp. nov.
(
Figures 1
,
2
)
Proposed standard English name: Blue dewlap anole
Proposed standard Spanish name:
Anolis
de saco azul
Holotype
QCAZ 14136
(
Figure 1
), adult male,
Ecuador
,
Provincia
Zamora Chinchipe
,
San Francisco Research Station
,
03.971°S
,
79.082°W
,
WGS84
,
1441
m,
13 September 2015
, collected by
Andrea Narváez
and
Leonardo Cedeño.
Paratypes
(4)
ECUADOR
:
Provincia
Zamora Chinchipe
:
QCAZ 14135
, juvenile female, same data as holotype, except
3.973°S
,
79.078°W
,
1823 m
,
9 September 2015
;
QCAZ 14137
, juvenile male, same data as
holotype
, except
3.973°S
,
79.088°W
,
1845 m
,
15 September 2015
;
QCAZ 14450–51
, adult males,
San Francisco Research Station
,
03.972°S
,
79.084°W
,
1919 m
,
15 January 2016
, collected by
Fernando Ayala
,
Steven Poe
and
Chris Anderson
.
Diagnosis
Figure 1.
Head of the holotype (QCAZ 14136) of
Anolis hyacinthogularis
sp. nov.
in dorsal (top), lateral (middle), and ventral (bottom) views. Photographs by O. Torres-Carvajal. Scale bar = 5 mm.
Anolis hyacinthogularis
differs from other species of
Anolis
(clade
Dactyloa
) from
Ecuador
and
Peru
, except
Anolis dissimilis
,
Anolis festae
and
Anolis nigrolineatus
, by possessing a long tail, small size (
SVL
<
60 mm
), short dewlap extending to the level of the arms, smooth head scales and by lacking a rostral proboscis. It differs from
A. festae
and
A. nigrolineatus
in lacking a black ventral stripe on the dewlap in males (dewlap stripe present in these species).
Anolis hyacinthogularis
is distinguished from
A. dissimilis
by having sky blue dewlap skin with horizontal rows of whitish cream scales agglomerated at the base in males (white to cream dewlap in males of
A. dissimilis
); seven or eight supralabials from snout to below centre of eye (
11 in
A. dissimilis
), and a shorter head.
The
ND2
distance value (0.274) between
A. hyacinthogularis
and its closest relative
Anolis calimae
is comparable to DNA divergences between other species pairs of
Anolis
(Supplemental material).
Description of
holotype
(scores for
paratypes
in parentheses)
SVL
56.8 mm
(
56.3−56.9 mm
); tail length
129.8 mm
(132.0−142.0 mm); head length
14.9 mm
(
15.3−15.5 mm
); head width
7.1 mm
(7.0−
7.4 mm
); head height
6.6 mm
(
6.4 −6.6 mm
); humerus length
7.2 mm
(
6.5−7.2 mm
); ulna length
5.8 mm
(5.3−6.0 mm); femur length
10.7 mm
(
10.9−11.8 mm
); tibia length
9.1 mm
(
8.3−9.7 mm
); dewlap fold length
15.2 mm
(
14.2−14.5 mm
); dewlap height
8.3 mm
(
7.1−7.8 mm
); interparietal length
1.6 mm
(
1.5−1.7 mm
); ear opening maximum length
0.6 mm
(
0.4 mm
); snout length 7.0 mm (7.0−
7.2 mm
); interorbital distance
2.4 mm
(
2.5 mm
).
Head scales smooth (smooth to rugose) on frontal region and on supraocular disc; 7 (6−9) scales between second canthals; 4 (6) scales, circumnasals included, bordering the rostral posteriorly; circumnasal in contact with rostral; supraorbital semicircles separated by 2 (3) scales; supraocular disc with one (2) enlarged scale; one short and elongate superciliary followed by a series of small scales; 4 (3−5) loreals; 30−37 (21−24) loreal scales; interparietal larger than ear opening, in contact with semicircles anteriorly; suboculars in contact with supralabials; 8 (7) supralabials counted from rostral to a point below centre of eye; 2 (4) postmentals; 4−5 enlarged sublabials in contact with infralabials.
Nuchal and dorsal crest absent; vertebral scales similar in size to adjacent scales; dorsal scales slightly keeled; 10 (9) mid-dorsal scales in a longitudinal segment representing 5% of SVL; flank scales homogeneous; ventral scales larger than dorsals, smooth, subimbricate and arranged in transverse rows; seven midventral scales in a longitudinal segment representing 5% of SVL.
Toepads overlapping the first phalanx in all toes; 17 (16) lamellae under third and fourth phalanges of fourth toe (counted in the manner of
Williams et al. 1995
); supradigital scales multicarinate; tail weakly compressed, with a single row of mid-dorsal scales not forming crest; enlarged postcloacal scales present in male specimens, absent in females.
Nuchal and dorsal folds absent in both sexes; dewlap small, extending posteriorly to fore limbs (also present in juvenile female); dewlap with six longitudinal single rows of scales similar in size to ventrals, separated by naked skin.
Variation in morphological characters in
A. hyacinthogularis
is presented in
Table 2
.
Colour in life
Holotype
(
Figure 2
(a,b,g)): head, body, limbs and tail brown (background colour green before manipulation), with dark brown dots and flecks; lateral cream band extending from the lower portion of the head (loreal, supralabial and infralabial areas) to shoulder; dark brown lateral band (faint anteriorly) extending from suboculars to a point posterior to fore limbs; ventral scales cream, with brownish spots; six cream bands extend anterodorsally from ventral region onto flanks; tail with alternating dark and light brown bands; iris copper; ocular ring yellowish; dewlap skin sky blue, with horizontal rows of whitish cream scales agglomerated at the base.
Juvenile female (QCAZ 14135,
Figure 2
(c,d)): dorsum and head greenish brown; light brown mid-dorsal, longitudinal stripe, delimited by a parallel dark stripe on each side; supralabial and loreal areas light green; frontoparietal area brownish, with a cream transverse band; iris brownish copper; ocular ring cream; dewlap pale yellow, with irregular metallic blue (teal) patches; tongue yellow.
Figure 2.
Anolis hyacinthogularis
sp. nov.
Holotype, adult male (SVL = 56.8 mm, QCAZ 14136, a, b, g), juvenile female (SVL = 36.5 mm, QCAZ 14135, c, d) and juvenile male (SVL = 34.6 mm, QCAZ 14137, e, f). Photographs by O. Torres-Carvajal (a, b, e, f, g) and A. Narváez (c, d).
Juvenile male (QCAZ14137,
Figure 2
(e,f)): dorsum and head light brown with dark brown dots; black spots along the mid-dorsal portion of the body and legs; longitudinal greenish band extending from snout to shoulder, darker on neck; dewlap colour pattern similar to
holotype
. Some individuals had a green background colour.
Gular sac radiance
We obtained colour data from
one female
and
four males
measured
in vivo
on the day of collection. In males, the regions close to the head and the base are brighter than the edge, the section close to the abdomen, and the centre, which are more bluish (
Figure 3
). In males, radiation peaked on average at
500 nm
(sky blue), increasing gradually from
400 nm
to
570 nm
, and decreasing slightly afterwards. Unlike males, the female exhibited the highest peak of reflectance (50%) at longer wavelengths, showing also a high reflectance (~40%) at wavelength values>
500 nm
(
Figure 3
). The gular sac in both males and the female exhibited UV reflection (i.e. wavelength <
400 nm
) in all measured areas.
Distribution and ecology
Anolis hyacinthogularis
occurs on the Amazonian slopes of the Cordillera Real in southern
Ecuador
, Provincia
Zamora Chinchipe
, between 1440 and
1845 m
(
Figure 4
). It is known from the upper basin of the Zamora river (Atlantic drainage) in evergreen lower montane forest (
Homeier et al. 2008
). This area has suffered from dramatic deforestation (
Tapia-Armijos et al. 2015
). All individuals of
A
.
hyacinthogularis
were collected at San Francisco Research Station, which lies near Podocarpus National Park. These collections within the park suggest that at least some populations of this species are well protected.
The new species occurs in sympatry with
Anolis lososi
sp. nov.
and
Anolis soinii
at the
type
locality, where it shares the same microhabitat (sub-canopy twigs) with
A. lososi
.
Anolis soinii
has been observed to occupy open or partially open areas and lower, leafier perches such as ferns. All specimens of the new species were found sleeping at night between 20:00h and 02:00h on steep slopes of secondary and primary forest. Individuals were found perching on twigs or narrow leaves from
2 to 4 m
above the ground. The smallest individual QCAZ 14137 (SVL =
36.64 mm
; tail length =
63.19 mm
) was collected on
15 September 2015
.
Etymology
The specific epithet
hyacinthogularis
alludes to the blue dewlap of the male and derives from the Latin words
hyacinthus
(=blue), and
gula
(=throat).