Anolis megapholidotus SMITH, 1933
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Anolis megapholidotus
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| Higher Taxa | Anolidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Large-scaed Anole S: Abaniquillo de Escamas Grandes |
| Synonym | Anolis megapholidotus SMITH 1933: 318 Anolis megapholidotus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 59 Norops megapholidotus — LINER 1994 Norops megapholidotus — NICHOLSON 2002 Anolis megapholidotus — LINER 2007 Norops megapholidotus — NICHOLSON et al. 2012 Anolis nietoi KÖHLER, TREJO PÉREZ, PETERSEN & MÉNDEZ DE LA CRUZ 2014 Norops nietoi — NICHOLSON et al. 2018 Norops megapholidotus — NICHOLSON et al. 2018 Anolis megapholidotus — HEIMES 2022 Anolis nietoi — HEIMES 2022 |
| Distribution | Mexico (Guerrero) Type locality: between Rincón and Cajones (abut 40-45 km south of Chilpancingo), Guerrero. nietoi (invalid): Mexico (Guerrero: Pacific versant of the Sierra Madre del Sur); Type locality: Cascada Iliatenco (17.06753°N, 98.77796°W, WGS84), 1185 m, Estado de Guerrero, Mexico |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: FMNH 100105 (was EHT-HMS 11149) Holotype: SMF 96404, an adult male; collected 12 January 2013 by Raúl Gómez Trejo Pérez. Field tag number GK-4260. Paratypes. All from Estado de Guerrero, Mexico: GK-4252–53, 4256 (IBH uncatalogued), SMF 96403, 96405–07, same collecting data as holotype. SMF 96397–99 from Iliatenco (17.05023°N, 98.68941°W), 1120 m. All paratypes are males, except for SMF 96407, which is a female. All paratypes collected by Raúl Gómez Trejo Pérez on 12 and 13 January 2013. [nietoi] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (nietoi): A small species (our Species B of the A. nebuloides complex, see above; SVL in largest male 50.0 mm, largest female 38.5 mm) of the genus Anolis (sensu Poe 2004) that differs from all Mexican and Central American anoles except A. nebuloides, A. megapholidotus, and two species described below (our Species D and E of the A. nebuloides complex) by having a combination of (1) strongly keeled ventral scales; (2) usually a patch of three greatly enlarged supraocular scales; (3) 10–12 rows of greatly enlarged dorsal scales that are larger than ventral scales; (4) short hind legs, longest toe of adpressed hind leg usually reaching to posterior margin of eye, occasionally to a point between levels of ear opening and eye or to mideye (to ear opening in a single female), ratio of shank length/SVL 0.24–0.28; (5) circumnasal usually in contact with first supralabial; and (6) a large pink dewlap in males and a very small pink dewlap in females (Fig. 20). Anolis nietoi differs from Species D and E of the A. nebuloides complex by having (1) a rather abrupt transition between the enlarged dorsal scales and lateral body scales (vs. a more gradual transition over 3 to 4 scales); (2) the edges of the field of enlarged dorsal scale rows well defined and in a more or less straight line (vs. the edges of this field forming an undulating line due to single enlarged scales or groups thereof outside the main field) (3) and by having a more reddish male dewlap (vs. pink). Anolis nietoi differs from A. nebuloides and A. megapholidotus in the ranges and average values of several morphometric and pholidotic characters (see Table 8), most obvious in (1) number of middorsal scales in one head length; and (2) number of subdigital lamellae on Phalanges II–IV of Toe IV. Also, the incompletely everted hemipenis of the A. nietoi holotype appears to be unilobed (vs. bilobed in A. nebuloides and Species E of the A. nebuloides complex; the hemipenis morphology in A. megapholidotus is unknown). (Köhler et al. 2026) |
| Comment | Synonymy: We follow Poe 2025 in synonymizing A. nietoi with A. megapholidotus, given the lack of diagnostic traits separating the two species and the questionable DNA support. Species group: Norops auratus Species Group (fide Nicholson et al. 2012) NCBI taxonID: 1633564 [nietoi] RDB speciesID: 10898 [nietoi] Etymology (nietoi): The name nietoi is a patronym honoring Adrián Nieto Montes de Oca who has contributed substantially to our knowledge on Mexican anoles. |
| Etymology | Named after Greek megas (μέγας), great, large, big + Greek pholidotos (φολιδωτός), clad in scales. [“...scales of back larger than ventrals, strongly keeled, not mucronate...”]. |
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