Anolis (Daudin)

Castiglia, Riccardo, Annesi, Flavia, Bezerra, Alexandra M. R., García, Andrés & Flores-Villela, Oscar, 2010, Cytotaxonomy and DNA taxonomy of lizards (Squamata, Sauria) from a tropical dry forest in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the coast of Jalisco, Mexico, Zootaxa 2508, pp. 1-29 : 16

Anolis (Daudin)

Anolis ( sensu lato) is the most specious genus among the reptiles, with circa 370 recognized species ( Poe 2004). Within the genus two major groups of species called “alpha” and “beta” have been recognized (the latter composed of the subgenus Norops ). Moreover, subgroups of species have also been defined within “alpha” and “beta” Anolis ( Nicholson 2002) . However, only few of these subgroups were supported by molecular analyses and many revealed ambiguous monophyletic status. For this reason, a well supported alternative classification is needed. A global phylogenetic analysis was assessed by Nicholson et al. (2005) in a molecular phylogenetic study including 189 species. Three geographically circumscribed clades were revealed [ Cuba ( Jamaica, and Mainland)]. The tree topology suggests a West Indian origin for mainland Norops . The typical karyotype of “beta” Anolis (Norops) consists of 14 macro- and 16 microchromosomes without obvious sex chromosome heteromorphism. Another frequently observed chromosome complement is 2n = 40 with 24 macro- and 16 microchromosomes. Presence of sex chromosomes has been reported in “alpha” as well as in “beta” Anolis . Among “beta” Anolis a XY system has been reported in A. onca (2n = 30) (Gorman 1969) and systems with two Xs and one Y (XXXX-XXY) have been reported in A. biporcatus and A. sagrei (both with 2n = 29 for males and 2n = 30 for females) ( Gorman & Atkins 1966, 1968; De Smet 1981).