Anolis quimbaya, Moreno-Arias & Méndez-Galeano & Beltrán & Vargas-Ramírez, 2023

Moreno-Arias, Rafael A., Mendez-Galeano, Miguel A., Beltran, Ivan & Vargas-Ramirez, Mario, 2023, Revealing anole diversity in the highlands of the Northern Andes: New and resurrected species of the Anolis heterodermus species group, Vertebrate Zoology 73, pp. 161-188 : 161

Anolis quimbaya sp. nov.

Anolis heterodermus Castañeda and de Queiroz (2011) p. 796 table 1. [ICN 11265];

Anolis heterodermus Castañeda and de Queiroz (2013) supplementary material. [ICN 10610];

Dactyloa heteroderma Prates et al. (2015) p. 264 [MHUA-R 11265]

Holotype.

MHUA-R 12691. Adult male with dewlap present, enlarged postanal scales. From Santa Elena, Medellin municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia (6.2688°N - 75.4992°W, 2400 m), collected by Juan Manuel Daza in May 2014.

Paratypes.

MHUA-R 11265 (an adult female, 6.25545°N - 75.50733°W, 2450 m), MHUA-R 12381 (an adult female, 6.236388°N - 75.49442°W, 2600 m) from the same locality data of holotype, collected by Luz Mery Martínez in 2005 and Alejandro Suárez in 2011. MHUA-R 11060 (an adult male, 6.796086°N - 75.72757°W, 3000 m) collected by M. Castaño in 2003, MHUA-R 11730 (an adult female, 6.648611°N - 75.68056°W, 3000 m), MHUA-R 12524 (adult female, 6.61599°N - 75.64796°W, 2900 m) from Belmira municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia collected by Carlos Ortiz in 2012. MHUA-R 11613 (adult female) from Girardota municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia (6.28192°N - 75.42962°W, 2350 m), collected by Juan Pablo Hurtado in 2007. MHUA-R 10938 (adult male) from La Union municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia (5.977075°N - 75.3641°W, 2450 m), collected by A. M, Higuita in 2003. MHUA-R 10505 (adult male) from Santa Rosa de Osos municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia (6.74081°N - 75.4783°W, 2700 m), collected by Ángela Ortega in 2001.

Diagnosis.

Anolis quimbaya sp. nov. shares short limbs, a large, casqued head, a prehensile tail without caudal autotomy, and lamellar subdigital scales of all digits extending from the most proximal phalanges with the other species of the Phenacosaurus clade. Anolis quimbaya sp. nov. differs from A. proboscis , A. orcesi , A. euskalerriari and A. nicefori by the presence of granular scales surrounding dorsal heterogeneous flat scales. Anolis quimbaya sp. nov. further differs from A. heterodermus , A. richteri , A. tetarii , A. inderenae , and A. tequendama sp. nov. by an orange or green dewlap ( A. vanzolinii orange only) from A. inderenae , A. heterodermus , A. richteri and A. tetarii by the presence of a discontinuous nuchal crest; from A. heterodermus and A. inderenae by the presence of a continuous row of enlarged sublabials that do not reach the mouth commissure; from A. heterodermus by a V-shaped crown. From A. vanzolinii by <24 expanded lamellae under second and third phalange of fourth toe and <35 lamella in total fourth toe, maximum snout-vent length 87 mm (110 mm), femoral length/snout-vent length ratio 0.17 (0.20), tail length/snout-vent ratio 1.19 (1.31), fourth toe length/snout-vent length ratio 0.13 (0.15) and sexual dimorphism in dewlap pattern.

Etymology.

The specific epithet is used as a noun in apposition. The name refers to the extinct indigenous ethnic group called the Quimbaya who inhabited the central cordillera of Colombia, where the species is mainly distributed. "Los Quimbaya" in Spanish is also a noun to refer to the indigenous people belonging to the Kimbaya nation, to the people who previously spoke the Kimbaya dialect and the archaeological period when those people lived.

Common name.

Quimbaya anole [English]. Anolis quimbaya [Spanish]

External description of holotype.

Snout to vent length 72.5 mm; head length 22.5 mm; head width 11.2 mm; femoral length 12.2 mm; ear height 1.0 mm; tail length 88.0 mm; fourth toe length 10.2 mm, fourth toe width 1.8 mm. Dorsal head and supraocular disc scales smooth and rough, respectively; frontal depression present; dorsal surface of rostral scale smooth, not notched; three scales across the snout between second canthals; supraorbital semicircles distinct, in contact; no scales separate interparietal and supraorbital semicircles; V-shaped crown; supraocular disc one to three enlarged scales, scales along the medial edge of the supraocular disc broken by larger scales that contact the supraorbital semicircles; one or two elongated supraciliary scales, followed by a series of small scales; two loreal rows; eight total loreals; circumnasal scale no contacts sulcus between rostral and first supralabial, one scale from the naris to the rostral; preoccipital absent; nine supralabials to center of eye; nine infralabials to center of eye; four postrostrals excluding first supralabials; four postmentals excluding first infralabials; mental partially divided posteriorly, extends posterolaterally along with the lateral limits of the rostral, with posterior border in a straight line transverse to head; three enlarged sublabials in contact with infralabials; a row of enlarged sublabials reaching the mouth commissure absent, a row of enlarged sublabials beyond posteriorly to a line just below the first canthal absent; dewlap present, reaching posterior to axillae; rows of single scales on dewlap; tubelike axillary pocket absent; enlarged postcloacal scales. Nuchal and caudal crests present; nuchal crest discontinuous. Dorsal crest to base of tail; dorsal crest discontinuous; one enlarged middorsal row; dorsal scales heterogeneous and smooth; four rows of scales between middorsal crest and the beginning of dorsal flat scales surrounded entirely by granules; size of the flat dorsal scales in HW 1-0.5-0.25; six longitudinal dorsal scales in the fifth scale row occupying 10% of SVL. Ventral scales smooth, slightly overlapped and rounded apices, in transverse rows; twelve longitudinal ventral scales in 10% of SVL. Supradigitals smooth or multikeeled; toepads expanded and overlap the first phalanx; twenty-one expanded lamellae under second and third phalanges of fourth toe; tail crest with a single row of scales.

Paratypes variation.

Snout to vent length 61.2-79.5 mm (N = 8, mean = 72.1 mm, SD = 5.9 mm); head length 19.4-79.9 mm; head width 9.4-12.9 mm; femoral length 10.0-12.7 mm; ear height 0.8-1.3 mm; tail length 75.0-92.0 mm; fourth toe length 8.1-10.7 mm; fourth toe width 1.3-2.0 mm. Dorsal head and supraocular disc scales smooth or rough; frontal depression present; dorsal surface of rostral scale smooth, not notched; 3-7 scales across the snout between second canthals; supraorbital semicircles distinct, in contact; 0-1 scales separate interparietal and supraorbital semicircles; shape of the crown “V”; supraocular disc one to three enlarged scales, scales along the medial edge of the supraocular disc broken by larger scales that contact the supraorbital semicircles or continuous without larger scales in contact with supraorbital semicircles; one or two elongated supraciliary scales, followed by a series of small scales; 1-2 loreal rows; 3-11 total loreals; circumnasal scale contacts or not the sulcus between rostral and first supralabial, 0-1 scales from the naris to the rostral; preoccipital present or absent; 7-9 supralabials to center of eye; 6-9 infralabials to center of eye; four 3-4 postrostrals excluding first supralabials; 2-5 postmentals excluding first infralabials; mental completely or partially divided posteriorly, extends or not posterolaterally along with the lateral limits of the rostral, with posterior border in a straight line transverse to head; 4-5 sublabials enlarged in contact with infralabials; a row of enlarged sublabials reaching the mouth commissure absent, row of enlarged sublabials beyond posteriorly to a line just below the first canthal absent; dewlap present, reaching or not posterior to axillae; rows of single scales on dewlap; tubelike axillary pocket absent; enlarged postcloacal scales absent in females, present in males. Nuchal and caudal crests present; nuchal crest discontinuous. Dorsal crest to base of tail; dorsal crest discontinuous; one enlarged middorsal row; dorsal scales heterogeneous and smooth; 2-5 rows of scales between middorsal crest and the beginning of dorsal flat scales surrounded entirely by granules; size of the flat dorsal scales in HW 1-1-1, 1-0.5 or 1-0.5-0.25; 4-7 longitudinal dorsal scales in the fifth scale row in 10% of SVL. Ventral scales smooth, slightly overlapped, and rounded apices, in transverse rows; 10-15 longitudinal ventral scales in 10% of SVL. Supradigitals smooth or multikeeled; toepads expanded and overlap the first phalanx; 20-24 expanded lamellae under second and third phalanges of fourth toe; tail crest with a single row of scales.

Colour in life.

Body brown or green dorsally, lighter ventrally; transversal brown or yellow bands present in many individuals; dorsal surfaces of body, limbs, and tail with abundant white, brown and yellow scales, single or in groups forming disorderly spots (Fig. 7A ); white or yellowish line running from the supralabials through the tympanum to the forelimbs; a patch of blue or red scales in the tail base is infrequent; unicoloured (solid) or spotted dewlaps that can be orange (males) or greenish (females) (Fig. 7A ).

Habitat, ecology, and behaviour.

Anolis quimbaya sp. nov. inhabits scrublands, forests, cloud forests, and “páramos” in the Colombian Andes. This species preferentially uses small branches and narrow surfaces such as twigs and exhibits very slow movements, consistently with their twig anole ecomorph. As well as Anolis tequendama sp. nov., A. quimbaya sp. nov. usually has a smaller body size compared to A. heterodermus and A. richteri . Furthermore, it is the lesser-studied species compared with Anolis heterodermus , A. richteri , and A. tequendama sp. nov. in terms of its thermal biology, as well as sexual and aggressive behaviour, thus these traits have not yet been analyzed in detail.

Geographic distribution.

Anolis quimbaya sp. nov. is a widely distributed lizard from the northern and western slope of the Andes in Ecuador to the Western and Central Cordilleras of Colombia (Fig. 8 ). Altitudinal range is approximately between 1800 and 3100 m.

Figures

Figure 7. Dewlap and body of female (left) and male (right) of A. quimbaya sp. nov. (A), A. richteri (B) and A. tequendama sp. nov. (C).

Figure 8. Geographic distribution of Anolis heterodermus subgroup species. Circles correspond to the type localities of each species.