Anolis philopunctatus Rodrigues, 1988

Ribeiro-Júnior, Marco A., 2015, Catalogue of distribution of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Brazilian Amazonia. I. Dactyloidae, Hoplocercidae, Iguanidae, Leiosauridae, Polychrotidae, Tropiduridae, Zootaxa 3983 (3), pp. 1-110 : 10-12

Anolis philopunctatus Rodrigues, 1988

Type-locality. INPA–WWF Reserves (2206-Dimona), 90 km NW Manaus, State of Amazonas, Brazil. Pertinent taxonomic references. Rodrigues (1988), Ávila-Pires (1995), Nicholson et al. (2012), Castañeda & de Queiroz (2013), Prates et al. (2014).

Taxonomic remarks. The taxonomic status of Anolis philopunctatus is controversial. Castañeda & de Queiroz (2013) presented a phylogenetic analysis of the Dactyloa clade based on morphological data and recovered A.

philopunctatus outside the punctatus group, but related to the latifrons group. On the other hand, Prates et al. (2014) based on genetic data, found it closely related to Anolis punctatus (nested within A. punctatus clade), and considered the name A. philopunctatus as a synonym of A. punctatus . Here I prefer to maintain A. philopunctatus as a valid species until we have a comprehensive analysis of morphological and genetic variation of Anolis philopunctatus .

Distribution and habitat. Anolis philopunctatus is endemic to central Amazonia, with distribution delimited by the Amazon, Negro and Trombetas Rivers (southwestern Guiana region—Fig. 5), until now only in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It is also present in the Anavilhanas archipelago, in the lower Negro River. Anolis philopunctatus is arboreal and diurnal, inhabits primary terra firme forest, where it is found on trunks of large trees, 2–6 meters above ground ( Rodrigues 1988).