Anolis alayoni ESTRADA & HEDGES, 1995
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Anolis alayoni
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| Higher Taxa | Anolidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Guantanamo Twig Anole |
| Synonym | Anolis alayoni ESTRADA & HEDGES 1995 Anolis alayoni — RODRÍGUEZ SCHETTINO 1999: 238 Anolis alayoni — NICHOLSON et al. 2012 Anolis alayoni — NICHOLSON et al. 2018 |
| Distribution | E Cuba (Holguín, Guantánamo) Type locality: La Fangosa, Yateras, Guantánamo province, Cuba. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: MNHNCU 2764 |
| Diagnosis | 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). |
| Comment | Species 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. |
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