Anolis carolinensis, Voigt, 1832

Nicholson, Kirsten E., Crother, Brian I., Guyer, Craig & Savage, Jay M., 2012, 3477, Zootaxa 3477, pp. 1-108 : 37-40

Anolis carolinensis Species Group

Diagnosis. — Support for this group is provided by 33 apomorphies including seven morphological and 26 molecular ones. There are two unequivocal morphological apomorphies: female dewlap extends to arms or shorter (17: 2 to 1); and mean number of ventral scales in 5% of snout-to-vent length decreased (20: p to o). There are nine unequivocal molecular apomorphies (see Appendix II).

Definition. — Lizards of this species group are moderate-sized anoles (maximum snout-to-vent length 52 to 83 in adult males, 48 to 75 mm in adult females) sharing the following combinations of characters: 1) no transparent scales in lower eyelid; 2) interparietal scale small, about same size as adjacent scales; 3) head elongate, length much longer than width; 4) limbs short; 5) tail long, about 2.3 to 2.5 times snout-to-vent length; 6) dewlap usually absent in females; 7) four lumbar vertebrae; 8) six or seven aseptate caudal vertebrae anterior to first autotomic vertebra.

Content. — This species group contains 14 species and a total of 17 species and subspecies (see Appendix III).

Distribution. — The Bahamas Islands, Cuba, and adjacent islands, Little Cayman Island, Navassa Island ( Fig. 23), and the southeastern United States from southeastern Virginia southward to southern Florida and the Florida Keys, westward through eastern and southern North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, southern Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, southern and central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma to central Texas. ( Fig. 23).

Introductions. — Anolis carolinensis to Hawaii, Guam, and Ogasawara Islands, Anolis maynardi to Cayman Brac and A. porcatus to Hispaniola and Florida.

Genus Ctenonotus Fitzinger, 1843

Ctenonotus Fitzinger, 1843 ; Systema Reptilium: 16, 64. Type species: Lacerta bimaculata Sparrman, 1784: 116 by original designation. Savage and Guyer (2004: 304) as first revisers, gave this name precedence over all other Fitzinger genusgroup names applicable to dactyloids.

Istiocercus Fitzinger, 1843 ; Systema Reptilium: 16, 65. Type species: Anolis cristatellus

Duméril and Bibron, 1837 (4): 143 by original designation. Proposed as a subgenus of Ptychonotus .

Diagnosis. — Support for this genus is from 46 apomorphies including seven morphological and 39 molecular ones. There are two unequivocal morphological features: maximum male snout-to-vent length increased (2: h to m); length of tail about 2.0 to 2.5 times snout-to-vent length (8: h to m). There are 21 unequivocal molecular apomorphies (see Appendix II).

Definition. — Members of the genus Ctenonotus are defined as dactyloid lizards having: 1) the alpha condition of the caudal vertebrae ( Etheridge, 1967, Fig. 2C) in which the caudal vertebrae anterior to the first autotomic vertebra are aseptate and have transverse processes and the posterior caudal vertebrae lack transverse processes but have autotomy septa; 2) interclavicle arrow-shaped; 3) postfrontal bone usually present; 4) pineal foramen usually in frontal-parietal suture; 5) supratemporal processes of parietal leave supraoccipital exposed above; 6) pterygoid teeth present or absent; 7) angular process usually large; 8) posterior suture of dentary blunt; 9) splenial present or absent; 10) usually slight to extensive lower jaw sculpturing in large males ( Etheridge, 1969, Figs. 8a, b) or not; 11) modal number of lumbar vertebrae 3 or 4; 12) modal number of aseptate caudal vertebrae anterior to first autotomic vertebra usually 6, sometimes 7; 13) supraoccipital cresting continuous across supraoccipital, rarely with distinct lateral processes; 14) karyotypic variation for this genus is summarized by species group in the accounts below. Note that for 2N and N.F. values, even numbers are for females, odd numbers for males.

Content. —This genus is comprised of three species groups, thirty-six species and a total of 67 species and subspecies (see Appendix III).

Distribution. — Bahama Bank, Turks and Caicos Islands, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and their satellite islands, Mona and Desecheo Islands, Puerto Rico and St. Croix Banks, the Virgin Islands, and the Lesser Antilles , north of the Dominica Channel ( Fig. 24).

Introductions. — Ctenonotus cristatellus to Dominican Republic, Yucatan, Costa Rica and south Florida; C. distichus to Florida; C. ferreus to Florida; C. leachii to Bermuda; C. wattsi to St. Lucia and Trinidad.

Etymology. —The generic name is derived from the Greek kteis = comb and noton = back, latinized to Ctenonotus , in allusion to the large nuchal crest in males of the type species. The name is masculine in gender.

Remarks. — Fitzinger (1843) lists Anolis bimaculatus Daudin (1802) as the type species (p. 16) of Ctenonotus . As noted above Daudin’s specimen was actually of a different species than the type of Sparrman’s (1784) Lacerta bimaculata . Daudin’s specimen was later made the type of C. Duméril and Bibron’s Anolis alligator (= Anolis roquet Bonnaterre, 1789 ). However, Fitzinger indicated (p. 64) that he considered both Daudin’s specimen and Duméril and Bibron’s Anolis alligator to be synonyms of Lacerta bimaculata Sparrman. It is clear that Fitzinger’s intent was to designate the last named species (as Ctenonotus bimaculatus ) as the generic type because it is the only taxon included in his subgenus Ctenonotus . Guyer and Savage (1992) anticipated the action that we now take of restricting Ctenonotus to the three groups listed below and recognizing Audantia as a separate genus. The genus described here is also recognized as a clade in Alfoldi et al.’s (2011) analysis of the genome of Anolis carolinensis that includes a molecular phylogeny for 96 anole taxa based upon 46 loci and 20,000 bp of sequence data.

also Fig. 17), Ctenonotus distichus Species Group, and Ctenonotus cristatellus Species Group.

Ctenonotus bimaculatus Species Group

Diagnosis. — Support for this group is provided by 84 apomorphies including six morphological and 68 molecular ones. There is one unequivocal morphological apomorphy: posterior suture of dentary blunt (83: a to z). There are 27 unequivocal molecular apomorphies (see Appendix II).

Definition. — Lizards of this species group are mostly moderate-sized anoles (maximum snout-to-vent length in adult males 58 to 96 mm, in adult females 46 to 64 mm). Ctenonotus bimaculatus and C. ferreus are large forms with maxima of 123 and 119 mm in males and 70 and 65 mm in females, respectively. Members of this group share the following combination of characters: 1) posterior suture of dentary blunt; 2) middorsal scales on snout arranged in two parallel rows that extend from the level of the second canthal to the nares; 3) prefrontal separated from nasal by frontal and nasal; 4) quadrate lateral shelf present or absent; 5) slight, wrinkled lower jaw sculpturing often present in large adult males; 6) N.F. = 43 or 44; Type III karyotype: 2N = 29/30 (8V + 4v, 6sT, 11 or 12m) in nine species or 31/32 (6V + 4sv, 6sT, 4T, 11 or 12m) in C. oculatus ; xxy heteromorphism; N.F. = 47/48.

Content. — This species group contains seventeen species and a total of 26 species and subspecies (see Appendix III).

Distribution. — Northern Lesser Antilles ( Fig. 24).

Introduction. — C. leachii to Bermuda; C. wattsi to St. Lucia.