Resurrection of Anolis ustus Cope, 1864 from synonymy with Anolis sericeus Hallowell, 1856 (Squamata, Dactyloidae)

By

Lara Tufiño, José Daniel
Nieto Montes de Oca, Adrián
Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio
Gray, Levi

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

619

Pages

147-162

Subjects

Anolis , Atlantic versant , dewlap , hemipenes , Yucatán Peninsula

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.619.9650

 

Abstract

In this study, based on a morphological analysis, the resurrection of the name Anolis ustus Cope 1864, is proposed for populations from the Yucatán Peninsula (Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo, Mexico, and Belize), formerly referred as A. sericeus Hallowell, 1856. Anolis ustus differs from A. sericeus by its mean snout-vent length and number of gorgetal scales in males, in tibia length and head width in females, and dorsal and ventral scales for both sexes. In addition, A. ustus has a small dewlap of similar size between males and females, whereas in A. sericeus males have a dewlap much larger than that of the females. These characteristics allow A. ustus to be identified within the A. sericeus complex. In this study, a description of the characteristics of the hemipenis is also provided, and its importance in the taxonomy of Anolis is discussed.