Panolopus Cope, 1862

Schools, Molly & Hedges, S. Blair, 2021, Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the Neotropical forest lizards (Squamata, Diploglossidae), Zootaxa 4974 (2), pp. 201-257 : 230

Genus Panolopus Cope, 1862

Caribbean Smooth-scaled Forest Lizards

Figs. 17–18

Panolopus Cope, 1862:494 . Type species: Panolopus costatus Cope, 1862:494 , by original designation.

Diagnosis. Species of Panolopus have (1) claw sheath, absent, (2) contact between the nasal and rostral scales, absent, (3) scales in contact with the nasal scale, four, (4) postnasal scales, one, (5) position of the nostril in the nasal scale, central, (6) keels on dorsal body scales, absent, (7) digits per limb, five, (8) longest toe lamellae, 12–22, (9) dorsal scale rows, 83–100, (10) relative head width, 10.6–15.5, (11) relative rostral height, 37.6–51.9, (12) relative frontonasal length, 1.93–2.94, (13) relative interparietal distance, 0.0691 –0.911, (14) relative axilla-groin distance, 49.7–59.6.

From Advenus gen. nov., we distinguish Panolopus by the absence of a claw sheath (present in Advenus gen. nov.) and the relative axilla-groin distance (49.7–59.6 versus 60.0). From Caribicus gen. nov., we distinguish Panolopus by the absence of keels on the dorsal body scales (present in Caribicus gen. nov.), the relative frontonasal length (1.93–2.94 versus 2.98–3.32), and the relative axilla-groin distance (49.7–59.6 versus 67.1–69.1). From Celestus , we distinguish Panolopus by the relative axilla-groin distance (49.7–59.6 versus 60.9–66.4). From Comptus gen. nov., we distinguish Panolopus by the absence of keels on the dorsal scales (present in Comptus gen. nov.), relative rostral height (37.6–51.9 versus 53.2–65.5), and relative frontonasal length (1.93–2.94 versus 2.95–3.65). From Sauresia , we distinguish Panolopus by the absence of a claw sheath (present in Sauresia ), digits per limb (five versus four), dorsal scale rows (83–100 versus 101–127), and the relative axilla-groin distance (49.7–59.6 versus 63.9–69.9). From Wetmorena , we distinguish Panolopus by the absence of a claw sheath (present in Wetmorena ), the digits per limb (five versus four), and the relative axilla-groin distance (49.7–59.6 versus 59.9–71.4).

Content. Three species ( Table 3 ): Panolopus costatus , P. curtissi , and P. marcanoi .

Distribution. Panolopus occurs on Hispaniola and some surrounding islets ( Fig. 18 ).

Etymology. Cope (1862) did not give the etymology of the generic name ( Panolopus ) but the name presumably refers to the fusion of numerous head scales mentioned in his diagnosis (pan, all; lopus, scale). Some of those traits are not diagnostic of the group and may represent healed injuries or deformities in a specimen he examined.

Remarks. Panolopus is a monophyletic clade that has a support value of 100% in Bayesian and ML analyses ( Fig. 2 ). Our phylogenies include all three species of Panolopus as well as five of the 11 subspecies of Panolopus costatus ( P. costatus costatus , P. costatus leionotus , P. costatus neiba , P. costatus nesobous , P. costatus oreistes ) and all four subspecies of P. curtissi . However, P. costatus and P. curtissi are not monophyletic and there are deep divergences (2–6 Mya) among populations of species and subspecies ( Fig. 3 ). Our trees do not include Panolopus costatus aenetergum , P. costatus emys , P. costatus saonae , P. costatus chalcorhabdus , P. costatus psychonothes , and P. costatus melanchrous . These results, together with other molecular and morphological data, indicate that the genus Panolopus includes at least nine additional species (Schools & Hedges, unpubl.).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Phylogenetic tree of diploglossid lizards based on sequences of nine genes: four mitochondrial genes (CytB, ND2, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) and five nuclear genes (AMEL, BDNF, PLPR, RAG1, and ZFP36). Maximum likelihood tree obtained from the nine-gene dataset (59 individuals; 6,949 sites).A scale bar indicates 5% sequence divergence. The numbers at nodes are ML bootstrap values, followed by Bayesian posterior probabilities; asterisks indicate significant (≥ 95%) support, and a dash or zero value indicates weak (<50%) support. The tree is rooted with Pseudopus apodus (Anguidae).

FIGURE 3. Timetree of Diploglossidae based on sequences of nine genes: four mitochondrial genes (CytB, ND2, 12S rRNA, and 16S rRNA) and five nuclear genes (AMEL, BDNF, PLPR, RAG1, and ZFP36). Nodes show divergence times in millions of years. A scale bar indicates time (6 million years ago, Mya). We show Bayesian credibility ranges as gray bars at nodes.

FIGURE 17. In life images of (A) Panolopus costatus (USNM 328744, SVL 97.81 mm) (B) Panolopus curtissi (ANSP 38634, SVL 77.5 mm), and (C) Panolopus marcanoi (ANSP 38662, SVL 73.5 mm). Photographs by S. B. Hedges.

FIGURE 18. The distribution of Panolopus. Arrows indicate distributions on Île-à-Vache and Isla Catalina.