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Anolis microtus COPE, 1871

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Higher TaxaAnolidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Tiny Anole 
SynonymAnolis microtus COPE 1871: 214
Anolis microtus — BOULENGER 1885: 62
Anolis microtus — SLEVIN 1942: 464
Anolis microtus — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970: 60
Dactyloa microtus — GUYER & SAVAGE 1986
Dactyloa microtus — KÖHLER 2000: 59
Dactyloa microtus — NICHOLSON et al. 2012
Dactyloa microtus — NICHOLSON et al. 2018 
DistributionCosta Rica, Panama

Type locality: San José, Costa Rica.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 31282, female 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A large species (maximum SVL 111 mm) of the genus Dactyloa (sensu Nicholson et al. 2012) that is most similar in external morphology to the other members of this genus found in western Panama (D. casildae, D. frenata, D. ginaelisae, D. ibanezi, D. insignis, and D. kunayalae). Dactyloa microtus can readily be distinguished from these six species by its color pattern described below and shown in Figs. 2, 7, 16, and 18T–U. It further differs from all mentioned species except D. ginaelisae by its low numbers of horizontal loreal rows (4 or fewer in D. microtus vs. 5 or more) and total loreal scales (26 or fewer in D. microtus vs. 39 or more), and by its low number of scales around midbody (106 or fewer in D. microtus vs. 110 or more). Moreover, D. microtus differs from D. casildae, D. frenata, and D. ibanezi in having short legs (tip of fourth toe of adpressed hind limb reaching at most to tympanum in D. microtus vs. beyond eye; shank length/SVL = 0.183 or less in D. microtus vs. 0.25 or more). Among the short-legged species of Dactyloa in western Panama, D. microtus further differs from D. insignis in having fewer subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe (47 or fewer in D. microtus vs. 52 or more) as well as under the fourth finger (37 or fewer in D. microtus vs. 40), and from D. kunayalae in having more subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe (44 or more in D. microtus vs. 35 or fewer) as well as under the fourth finger (32 or more in D. ginaelisae vs. 25 or fewer). Dactyloa microtus is very similar to D. ginaelisae, from which it differs in having shorter legs (tip of fourth toe of adpressed hind limb reaching to a point between shoulder and tympanum in D. microtus vs. to a point between tympanum and eye in D. ginaelisae; shank length/SVL = 0.183 or less in D. microtus vs. 0.19 or more) and by its less conspicuous and clear-cut coloration pattern between eye and shoulder (light postsupralabial and dark postorbital stripe oriented rather ventrally and losing their conspicuousness around ear in D. microtus vs. a prominent light stripe extending from supralabials posteriorly above or across the ear before bending down towards shoulder, delineating a dark preaxillary blotch above and posteriorly, and paralleled above by a dark postorbital stripe with darker borders that extends at least to a level above the preaxillary blotch in D. ginaelisae). For more characters that might help to distinguish these two very similar species, see remarks section in the species account of D. ginaelisae [LOTZKAT et al. 2013]. 
CommentSynonymy partly after PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970

Species group: Dactyloa latifrons species group (NICHOLSON et al. 2012). 
EtymologyNamed after Greek mikrotos (μικρότης), smallness; littleness, meanness, pettiness. [?]. 
References
  • Barbour,T. 1923. Notes on reptiles and amphibians from Panamá. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (129): 1-16. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1871. Ninth contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 23: 200-224 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2000. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach, 158 pp.
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • LOTZKAT, SEBASTIAN; ANDREAS HERTZ, JOE-FELIX BIENENTREU & GUNTHER KÖHLER 2013. Distribution and variation of the giant alpha anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) of the genus Dactyloa in the highlands of western Panama, with the description of a new species formerly referred to as D. microtus. Zootaxa 3626 (1): 1–54 - get paper here
  • NICHOLSON, KIRSTEN E.; BRIAN I. CROTHER, CRAIG GUYER & JAY M. SAVAGE 2012. It is time for a new classification of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae). Zootaxa 3477: 1–108 - get paper here
  • NICHOLSON, KIRSTEN E.; BRIAN I. CROTHER, CRAIG GUYER & JAY M. SAVAGE 2018. Translating a clade based classification into one that is valid under the international code of zoological nomenclature: the case of the lizards of the family Dactyloidae (Order Squamata). Zootaxa 4461 (4): 573–586 - get paper here
  • Peters, James A. & Donoso-Barros, Roberto 1970. Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part II. Lizards and Amphisbaenians. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 297: 293 pp. - get paper here
  • Poe, S. 2004. Phylogeny of anoles. Herpetological Monographs 18: 37-89 - get paper here
  • Poe, S. 2013. 1986 Redux: New genera of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) are unwarranted. Zootaxa 3626 (2): 295–299 - get paper here
  • Savage, J.M. 2002. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica: A Herpetofauna Between Two Continents, Between Two Seas. University of Chicago Press, 934 pp. [review in Copeia 2003 (1): 205]
  • Savage, Jay M. & Talbot, James J. 1978. The giant Anoline lizards of Costa Rica and Western Panama. Copeia 1978 (3): 480-492 - get paper here
  • Slevin, J.R. 1942. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Boquete, Panama, with the description of a new species of Hydromorphus. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 23: 463-480 - get paper here
  • Stohlgren, K. et al. 2012. FHF snapshot. HerpNation (9): 15-18 - get paper here
  • Taylor, E. H. 1956. A review of the lizards of Costa Rica. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 38 (part 1): 3-322 - get paper here
 
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