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Anolis polylepis PETERS, 1874

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Higher TaxaAnolidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Many-scaled Anole 
SynonymAnolis polylepis PETERS 1874: 738
Anolis polylepis — BOULENGER 1885: 52
Anolis polylepis — PETERS & OREJAS-MIRANDA 1970
Norops polylepis — VILLA et al. 1988
Anolis polylepis — BAUER et al. 1995: 59
Norops polylepis — KÖHLER 2000: 63
Norops polylepis — NICHOLSON 2002
Anolis polylepis — COOPER 2005
Norops polylepis — NICHOLSON et al. 2012
Norops polylepis — NICHOLSON et al. 2018 
DistributionW Panama, SW Costa Rica (exclusive of the Penisula de Osa), 0-1615 m elevation

Type locality: “Chiriqui” [Panama]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: ZMB, MCZ 21962-63 (fide CRUMLY 1986) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A medium-sized species (SVL in largest specimen 59.4 mm) of the genus Anolis (sensu Poe 2004) that differs from all other Lower Central American beta anoles (sensu Etheridge 1967) except Anolis apletophallus, A. cryptolimifrons, and A. limifrons in that it is long-legged (longest toe of adpressed hind leg reaches to at least center of eye), has smooth ventral scales, and a slender habitus, often delicate. Anolis polylepis differs from the species in the cluster listed above by having two elongate, overlapping superciliaries (one such scale in A. apletophallus, A. cryptolimifrons, and A. limifrons), usually two anterior prenasal scales (versus one elongate prenasal scale) and dewlap coloration (usually orange with a darker orange basal portion in A. polylepis versus dirty white with a basal orange-yellow blotch in A. cryptolimifrons and A. limifrons, almost uniformly orange-yellow in A. apletophallus). Additionally, A. polylepis differs from A. limifrons, the only species of this cluster with which it occurs sympatrically, by having a bilobed hemipenis (unilobed in A. limifrons) [from KÖHLER et al. 2010]. 
CommentHybridization: A. osa and A. polylepis form a hybrid zone, i.e. they may hybridize desprite their different hemipenes (Köhler et al. 2012, Salamandra).

Synonymy: GenBank had KP100436 (POE 2276) as A. zeus but is treated as A. polylepis in Köhler 2015

Species group: Norops auratus Species Group (fide Nicholson et al. 2012) 
References
  • Arias, Erick; Federico Bolaños 2014. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of San Isidro de Dota, Reserva Forestal Los Santos, Costa Rica. Check List 10 (4): 870-877 - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
  • 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
  • Cooper Jr., W.E. 2005. Duration of movement as a lizard foraging movement variable. Herpetologica 61 (4): 363-372 - get paper here
  • Crandell, Kristen E.; Anthony Herrel, Mahmood Sasa, Jonathan B. Losos, Kellar Autumn 2014. Stick or grip? Co-evolution of adhesive toepads and claws in Anolis lizards. Zoology 117 (6): 363-369 - get paper here
  • Crumly, C. 1986. Type specimens of lizards in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. part I. Amphisbaenia and Sauria (Agamidae to Iguanidae). Unpublished manuscript, 301 pp.
  • Henderson, C.L. 2010. Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica - A field guide. University of Texas Press, Austin, 198 pp.
  • Hertz, Paul E. 1974. Thermal Passivity of a Tropical Forest Lizard, Anolis polylepis. Journal of Herpetology 8 (4): 323-327 - get paper here
  • Höbel, G. 2008. The amphibians and reptiles of the Golfo Dulce region - Los anfibios y reptiles de la región del Golfo Dulce. Stapfia 88, Neue Serie 80 (2008): 305-328
  • Jiménez, Randall R.; Jorengeth Abad Rodríguez-Rodríguez 2015. The relationship between perch type and aggressive behavior in the lizard Norops polylepis (Squamata: Dactyloidae). Phyllomedusa 14 (1): 43-51 - 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.
  • KÖHLER, GUNTHER; ABEL BATISTA, MILAN VESELY, MARCOS PONCE, ARCADIO CARRIZO & SEBASTIAN LOTZKAT 2012. Evidence for the recognition of two species of Anolis formerly referred to as A. tropidogaster (Squamata: Dactyloidae). Zootaxa 3348: 1–23 - get paper here
  • KÖHLER, GUNTHER; D. MATTHIAS DEHLING & JOHANNES KÖHLER 2010. Cryptic species and hybridization in the Anolis polylepis complex, with the description of a new species from the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (Squamata: Polychrotidae). Zootaxa 2718: 23–38 - get paper here
  • KÖHLER, JOHANNES J.; STEVEN POE, MASON J. RYAN & GUNTHER KÖHLER 2015. Anolis marsupialis Taylor 1956, a valid species from southern Pacific Costa Rica (Reptilia, Squamata, Dactyloidae). Zootaxa 3915 (1): 111–122 - get paper here
  • Korein, Emma; Francesca Aaskov, Matthew Clark, Harriet Alice Taberner, Rebecca Jarrett, Varvara Vladimirova. Photos by Loris Capria 2019. CRF Phase 191 Science Report: Carate, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. COSTA RICA RESEARCH PROGRAMME CBP, - get paper here
  • Köhler, J., M. Hahn & G. Köhler 2012. Divergent evolution of hemipenial morphology in two cryptic species of mainland anoles related to Anolis polylepis. Salamandra 48 (1): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Mendenhall, Chase D.; Luke O. Frishkoff, Georgina Santos-Barrera, Jesús Pacheco, Eyobed Mesfun, Fernando Mendoza Quijano, Paul R. Ehrlich, Gerardo Ceballos, Gretchen C. Daily, and Robert M. Pringle 2014. Countryside biogeography of Neotropical reptiles and amphibians. Ecology 95: 856–870 - get paper here
  • Mulcahy DG, Ibáñez R, Jaramillo CA, Crawford AJ, Ray JM, Gotte SW, et al. 2022. DNA barcoding of the National Museum of Natural History reptile tissue holdings raises concerns about the use of natural history collections and the responsibilities of scientists in the molecular age. PLoS ONE 17(3): e0264930 - get paper here
  • Nicholson KE, C. Guyer, and JG Phillips 2017. Biogeographic Origin of Mainland Norops (Squamata: Dactyloidae). Assumptions Inhibiting Progress in Comparative Biology (eds. Crother and Parenti), pp. 169–184
  • Nicholson, K.E. 2002. Phylogenetic analysis and a test of the current infrageneric classification of Norops (beta Anolis). Herpetological Monographs 16: 93-120 - 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
  • Perry, G. 1996. The evolution of sexual dimorphism in the lizard Anolis polylepis (Iguania): Evidence from intraspecific. Canadian Journal of Zoology 74: 1238-1245 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1874. Über neue Saurier (Spæriodactylus, Anolis, Phrynosoma, Tropidolepisma, Lygosoma, Ophioscincus) aus Centralamerica, Mexico und Australien. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1873 (November): 738-747 - 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
  • Quinones, Brittany; Zachary Patton, Jessica Murgatroyd, Sara Hamilton, Sarah Moses, Adriel Herrera, Elvis Hernandez, Christian Alessandro Perez, Andres Vega, Gad Perry, and Kerry L. Griffis-Kyle 2019. The adventure of a lifetime: Getting friendly with Costa Rican herps. IRCF 26 (1): 85–97 - get paper here
  • Ryan, Mason J. and Steven Poe 2014. Seasonal Shifts in Relative Density of the Lizard Anolis polylepis (Squamata, Dactyloidae) in Forest and Riparian Habitats. Journal of Herpetology 48 (4): 495-499. - get paper here
  • Santos-Barrera, Georgina; Jesus Pacheco, Fernando Mendoza-Quijano, Federico Bolaños,<br />Gerardo Cháves , Gretchen C. Daily, Paul R. Ehrlich & Gerardo Ceballos 2008. Diversity, natural history and conservation of amphibians and reptiles from the San Vito Region, southwestern Costa Rica. Rev. Biol. Trop. 56 (2): 755-778 - get paper here
  • Sasa, M., Arias, E., & Chaves, G. 2025. Annotated list of amphibians and reptiles of Costa Rica: The role of the Museum of Zoology in cataloging the country’s herpetological diversity. Revista de Biología Tropical, 73(S2): e64536-e64536 - 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]
  • Scott, N.J. 1976. The abundance and diversity of the herpetofaunas of tropical forest litter. Biotropica 8 (1): 41-58 - 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
  • Socci, A.M.; Schlaepfer, M.A. & Gavin,T.A. 2005. The importanceof soil moisture and leaf cover in a femal lizard’s (Norops polylepis) evaluation of potential oviposition sites. Herpetologica 61 (3): 233-240 - get paper here
  • Suárez, Javier Ernesto Cortés and Natalia Díaz Gutiérrez. 2013. Perch use by Anolis polylepis Peters, 1874 (Polychrotidae) in a tropical humid forest at the Piro Biological Station, Costa Rica. Herpetology Notes 6: 219-222.
  • 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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