Dactyloa latifrons (Berthold, 1846)

Nicholson, Kirsten E., Crother, Brian I., Guyer, Craig & Savage, Jay M., 2012, 3477, Zootaxa 3477, pp. 1-108 : 20-21

Dactyloa latifrons Species Group

Diagnosis. — Support for this group is provided by 54 apomorphies including seven morphological and 47 molecular ones. Six morphological features are unequivocal: maximum male snout-to-vent length increased (1: k to o); ratio of maximum female snout-to-vent length to maximum male snout-to-vent length decreased (2: a to c); length of thigh increased (3: o to w); length of head decreased (4: m to i); scales on dewlap with at least one double row (21: a to z); mean number of scales across snout increased (29: l to m); and scales in supraorbital disc about equal in size (41: 0 to 4). All of the molecular apomorphies are equivocal (see Appendix II).

Definition. — Species of this group are giant anoles (snout-to-vent length in adult males 100 to 160 mm and 97 to 135 mm in adult females) and have the following combinations of features: 1) inscriptional rib formula 5:0; 2) lack of caudal autotomy septa (present in one species, D. agassizi ); 3) large splenial present; 4) rows of multiple scales on the dewlap; 5) double row of middorsal caudal scales.

Content. — Eighteen species are referred to this species group (see Appendix III).

Distribution. — Atlantic and Pacific slopes of Costa Rica and Panama, south through the Chocó of Colombia and Ecuador; Malpelo Island; the Caribbean versant of Colombia, including the major river valleys of the Río Atrato, Río Cauca, and Río Magdalena and their adjacent slopes, and the Cordillera de la Costa of Venezuela ( Fig. 8).

Remarks. — Hulebak et al. (2007) in the course of describing Dactyloa kunayalae suggested that it might be an ally of the Colombian D. mirus and D. parrilis . They noted that the three taxa share a unique morphology of the fourth toe, including few lamellae, indistinct toe pad, and especially long claw (see Fig. 1 in Williams, 1963).