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Anolis alayoni ESTRADA & HEDGES, 1995

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Higher TaxaDactyloidae, Iguania, Sauria (lizards) 
Subspecies 
Common NamesGuantanamo Twig Anole 
SynonymAnolis alayoni ESTRADA & HEDGES 1995
Anolis alayoni — RODRÍGUEZ SCHETTINO 1999: 238
Anolis alayoni — NICHOLSON et al. 2012 
DistributionE Cuba (Holguín, Guantánamo)

Type locality: La Fangosa, Yateras, Guantánamo province, Cuba. Map legend:
TDWG region - Region according to the TDWG standard, not a precise distribution map.

NOTE: TDWG regions are generated automatically from the text in the distribution field and this does not always work properly. We are working on it.
 
Typesholotype: MNHNCU 2764 
CommentSpecies group: Anolis angusticeps species group (fide NICHOLSON et al. 2012).

Anolis alayoni is a cryptic species, and the fourth member of the twig ecomorph of Cuban Anolis. Morphological data suggest that its closest relative is the partly sympatric species A. angusticeps.

Etymology: Named after Cuban arachnologist Giraldo Alayón.

Diagnosis. —A small species (2 SVL 42.2 mm males; 36.6 mm females) of Anolis with short limbs, long snout, short semiprehen-sile tail, and enlarged scales on dorsal sur-face of head. Anolis alayoni is a member of the angusticeps species group of Anolis, which includes A. angusticeps, A. guazuma, and A. paternus. From A. guazuma, it can be distinguished by a tail longer than SVL (shorter in gua-zuma), 1-2 scales between supraorbital semicircles (modally 0 in guazuma), keeled head scales (smooth in guazuma), well-de-veloped yellow dewlap (small and whitish in guazuma), and other scale and pattern features. From A. paternus, it can be distin-guished by smooth ventral scales (keeled in paternus) and larger body size. From its closest relative, A. angusticeps, it can be distinguished by large size of the males (X SVL = 42.2 mm in alayoni; 39.9 mm in angusticeps) and the color of the dewlap: dark yellow in alayoni, pale orange or peach in angusticeps. Scale characters which can distinguish most A. alayoni from most A. angusticeps are: modally 11 (8-12) scales around the interparietal in males, 10 (9-13) in females of alayoni (modally 13 [11-16] in males, bimodally 13 and 14 [12- 15] in females of angusticeps); modally two [2-3] scales between naris and rostrum in alayoni (modally three [2-3] in angusticeps), modally four (3-5) scales between nares in alayoni (modally five [3–6] in angusticeps), modally 15 (13–16) lamellae under phalan-ges II and III of fourth toe in alayoni (mod-ally 13 [12-20] in angusticeps), modally four (2-6) postmarital scales in alayoni (modally six [4-7] in males, four [4-6] in females of angusticeps), bimodally 20 and 22 (18-28) middorsal scales in alayoni (bimodally 35 and 37 [26-37] in angusticeps). In combi-nation, these color, measurement and modal scale differences clearly distinguish all specimens of alayoni and angusticeps (from ESTRADA & HEDGES 1995). 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA
  • Estrada, A.R. & S.B. Hedges 1995. A new species of Anolis (Sauria: Iguanidae) from eastern Cuba. Carib. J. Sci. 31 (1-2): 65-72. - get paper here
  • Poe, S. 2013. 1986 Redux: New genera of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) are unwarranted. Zootaxa 3626 (2): 295–299
  • Rodríguez Schettino, Lourdes (ed.) 1999. The iguanid lizards of Cuba. Unviersity Press of Florida, 428 pp.
 
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