Anolis fuscoauratus and A. maculiventris in Panama?

Anolis elcopeensis is more similar to the South American species A. fuscoauratus than to any species in Central America. Anolis fuscoauratus is a common forest anole in Amazonian South America (Avila-Pires 1995). This nondescript species is difficult to distinguish morphologically from the species described here and from its Andean and Pacific Colombian lowland congeners ( A. antonii, A. mariarum, A. tolimensis, A. maculiventris, A. medemi), and there are doubtless multiple cryptic species among supposed A. fuscoauratus in Amazonia and the eastern Andes (Poe, unpublished). We have collected A. fuscoauratus from its type locality in Bolivia, and anoles nearly or completely indistinguishable from topotypical A. fuscoauratus in Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador. Some authors (e.g., Kohler 2008) list A. fuscoauratus from Panama, but this occurrence seems unlikely as true A. fuscoauratus is replaced in the western lowlands of Colombia by A. maculiventris .

We have collected fuscoauratus -like Anolis in eastern Panama from the Panama Canal to Pirre Station, Darién. The fuscoauratus -like anole we have collected along the Pan American highway out to Metetí usually possesses a bicolor orange/yellow dewlap (Fig. 4), although we have collected specimens near Lake Bayano with solid orange dewlaps (Fig. 4E), as in A. elcopeensis . Although our current assignment for these eastern populations is A. elcopeensis, we suspect this form may represent one or multiple species distinct from A. elcopeensis . The variability in dewlap color (Fig. 4) and mitochondrial DNA (Fig. 2; note positions of samples from Pipeline Road and Lake Bayano) suggests the presences of a species complex of fuscoauratus -like anoles in central and eastern Panama. Given the local variation we have observed in limb length and body color pattern, it also is possible that we have failed to recognize multiple sympatric small grayish-brown anole species with orange dewlaps at our study sites. We currently are investigating these issues.

Near Yaviza in Darién, the fuscoauratus / elcopeensis - like anoles we have collected possesses a bicolor dewlap with pink posteriorly (Fig. 5G), similar to the Pacific Colombian lowland form A. maculiventris (Fig. 5H). In addition, some of our collections of this Darién population appeared strongly dorsally patterned (Fig. 3C), as also is common in South American A. maculiventris (Fig. 3D; but also occasionally evident in A. elcopeensis east of the canal; pers. obs.). This population may represent A. elcopeensis or an additional undescribed species, but for now we tentatively assign these to A. maculiventris . If this species inference is accurate, the number of recognized anole species in Panama is increased to 46.

Acknowledgments. —Thanks to Julie Ray and Roberto Ibañez for facilitating our field work in Panama. Caleb Hickman, Mason Ryan, Ian Latella, Julian Davis, Erik Hulebak, and Heather MacInnes helped collect individuals of the new species. Thanks to Sierra Llorona Lodge for allowing us to collect lizards on their property. Mason Ryan, Ian Latella, and three anonymous reviewers made helpful comments on the manuscript. Thanks to Gunther Kohler (SL tissue) and Omar Torres-Carvajal (QCAZ tissue) for providing tissues. Collecting and export permits were provided by ANAM. Funding was provided by the National Science Foundation.