Two new Andean species of Anolis lizard (Iguanidae: Dactyloinae) from southern Ecuador

ABSTRACT

We describe two new species of Anolis lizard that are sympatric on the Amazonian slopes of the Andes of southern Ecuador at elevations between 1440 and 1970 m. The new species may be distinguished from other Anolis by external anatomy, mitochondrial divergence and dewlap colour. We estimate the phylogenetic positions of the new species using Bayesian analysis of DNA sequence data including all species of Dactyloa-clade Anolis for which DNA data are available. Anolis hyacintogularis sp. nov. is sister to Anolis calimae, whereas Anolis lososi sp. nov. is sister to Anolis williamsmittermeierorum, herein reported for Ecuador for the first time. Individuals of both new species were collected within a protected area in southern Ecuador, Podocarpus National Park, which suggests that at least some populations of these species are well protected.

www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E55FA804-E3FD-4412-8FEB-5234E29E272D

KEYWORDS:

• Andes
• Anoles
• phylogeny
• South America
• systematics

Acknowledgements

We thank C. Anderson, J. Davis, L. Gray, D. Salazar-Valenzuela and L. Cedeño for assistance in the field; J. Hanken (MCZ) for specimen loan; San Francisco Research Station staff for support in the field; A. Varela, V. Chasiluisa, E. Guerra, D. Rivadeneira, S. Valverde, F. Hervas and M. Caminer for help with the figures; F. Nogales, D. Almeida-Reinoso and F. Werner for ecological information. AEN received funds from National Geographic Society, La Trobe University and Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT 2012). Specimens were collected under collection permits 008-09 IC-FAU-DNB/MA and 003-15 IC-FAU-DNB/MA issued by Ministerio del Ambiente.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (SENESCYT) under the [‘Arca de Noé’ Initiative] (PIs: S.R. Ron and O. Torres-Carvajal).