Dactyloidae

"Anole" redirects here. For the comic book character, see Anole (character). For the massacre by emperor Menelik of Ethiopia, see Hitosa. For the village in Somalia, see Caanoole.

Dactyloidae
Temporal range: Eocene - Recent
Carolina (or green) anole
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Dactyloidae
Fitzinger, 1843
Genera

1–8, see text

Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles (US: /əˈnoʊ.liz/ ⓘ) and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay.[1][2] Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat it as a subfamily, Dactyloinae, of the family Iguanidae.[3][4] In the past they were included in the family Polychrotidae together with Polychrus (bush anoles), but the latter genus is not closely related to the true anoles.[5][6]

Anoles are small to fairly large lizards, typically green or brownish, but their color varies depending on species and many can also change it.[1][7] In most species at least the male has a dewlap, an often brightly colored flap of skin that extends from the throat and is used in displays.[7] Anoles share several characteristics with geckos, including details of the foot structure (for climbing) and the ability to voluntarily break off the tail (to escape predators),[8][9][10] but they are only very distantly related, anoles being part of Iguania.[11][12]

Anoles are active during the day and feed mostly on small animals such as insects, but some will also take fruits, flowers, and nectar.[7][13][14] Almost all species are fiercely territorial. After mating, the female lays an egg (occasionally two); in many species she may do so every few days or weeks.[7][8][15] The egg is typically placed on the ground, but in some species it is placed at higher levels.[7][16]

Anoles are widely studied in fields such as ecology, behavior, and evolution,[7][17] and some species are commonly kept in captivity as pets.[18] Anoles can function as a biological pest control by eating insects that may harm humans or plants,[19] but represent a serious risk to small native animals and ecosystems if introduced to regions outside their home range.[20][21]

  1. ^ a b Conant, R.; J.T. Collins (1998). A Field Guide to the Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America (3 ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 208–215. ISBN 978-0-395-90452-7.
  2. ^ Kristen A. Nicholson; Brian I. Crother; Craig Guyer; Jay M. Savage (10 September 2012). "It is time for a new classification of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae)" (PDF). Zootaxa. 3477: 1–108. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3477.1.1. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
  3. ^ Poe; Nieto-Montes de Oca; Torres-Carvajal; Queiroz; Velasco; Truett; Gray; Ryan; Köhler; Ayala-Varela; Latella (2017). "A Phylogenetic, Biogeographic, and Taxonomic study of all Extant Species of Anolis (Squamata; Iguanidae)". Systematic Biology. 66 (5): 663–697. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syx029. PMID 28334227. S2CID 3584460.
  4. ^ Torres-Carvajal; Ayala-Varela; Lobos; Poe; Narváez (2017). "Two new Andean species of Anolis lizard (Iguanidae: Dactyloinae) from southern Ecuador". Journal of Natural History. 8 (13–16): 1–23. doi:10.1080/00222933.2017.1391343. S2CID 89785406.
  5. ^ Losos, J. (5 June 2013). "Lizard Super-Phylogeny Contains 4,000+ Species". Anole Annals. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  6. ^ Townsend; Mulcahy; Noonan; Sites Jr; Kuczynski; Wiens; Reeder (2011). "Phylogeny of iguanian lizards inferred from 29 nuclear loci, and a comparison of concatenated and species-tree approaches for an ancient, rapid radiation". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 61 (2): 363–380. Bibcode:2011MolPE..61..363T. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2011.07.008. PMID 21787873.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Losos, J.B. (2011). Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree: Ecology and Adaptive Radiation of Anoles. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-26984-2.
  8. ^ a b Savage, J.M. (2002). The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. University of Chicago Press. pp. 444–480. ISBN 0-226-73537-0.
  9. ^ Naish, D. (5 May 2011). "Lamellae, scansor pads, setae and adhesion… and the secondary loss of all of these things (gekkotans part IV)". Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  10. ^ Kirsten Tyler; Winchell; Revell (2016). "Tails of the City: Caudal Autotomy in the Tropical Lizard, Anolis cristatellus, in Urban and Natural Areas of Puerto Rico". Journal of Herpetology. 50 (3): 435–441. doi:10.1670/15-039. S2CID 1494221.
  11. ^ Pyron; Burbrink; Wiens (2013). "A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 13 (1): 93. Bibcode:2013BMCEE..13...93P. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-13-93. PMC 3682911. PMID 23627680.
  12. ^ Wiens, J. J.; Hutter, C.R.; Mulcahy, D.G.; Noonan, B.P.; Townsend, T.M.; Sites, J.W.; Reeder, T.W. (2012). "Resolving the phylogeny of lizards and snakes (Squamata) with extensive sampling of genes and species". Biology Letters. 8 (6): 1043–1046. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0703. PMC 3497141. PMID 22993238.
  13. ^ "Nonnatives - Cuban Green Anole". Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  14. ^ Ríos-López, N.; Alicea-Ortíz, J.D.; Burgos-Apont, E. (2016). "Natural History Observations in the Puerto Rican Dwarf Anole, Anolis occultus Williams and Rivero 1965 (Squamata: Dactyloidae): Nectar-Feeding, Bird Predation, and a Review of the Species' Natural History with Implications for Its Conservation". Life: The Excitement of Biology. 4 (2): 100–113. doi:10.9784/LEB4(2)Rios.01.
  15. ^ Durso, A. (27 June 2013). "Fill In The Blank: Obscure Anole Life History Traits". Anole Annals. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  16. ^ Domínguez, M.; Sanz, A.; Chávez, J.; Almaguer, N. (2010). "Cyclical Reproduction in Females of the Cuban Lizard Anolis lucius (Polychrotidae)". Herpetologica. 66 (4): 443–450. doi:10.1655/09-058.1. S2CID 86339367.
  17. ^ Anthony Herrel; Veronika Holáňová (2008). "Cranial morphology and bite force in Chamaeleolis lizards – Adaptations to molluscivory?". Zoology. 111 (6): 467–475. Bibcode:2008Zool..111..467H. doi:10.1016/j.zool.2008.01.002. PMID 18674893.
  18. ^ Bartlett, R.D.; P. P. Bartlett (2008). Anoles, Basilisks, and Water Dragons. B.E.S. ISBN 978-0-7641-3775-4.
  19. ^ Monagan Jr.; Morris; Davis Rabosky; Perfecto; Vandermeer (2017). "Anolis lizards as biocontrol agents in mainland and island agroecosystems". Ecology and Evolution. 7 (7): 2193–2203. Bibcode:2017EcoEv...7.2193M. doi:10.1002/ece3.2806. PMC 5383488. PMID 28405283.
  20. ^ Suzuki-Ohno; Morita; Nagata; Abe; Makino; Kawata (2017). "Factors restricting the range expansion of the invasive green anole Anolis carolinensis on Okinawa Island, Japan". Ecol. Evol. 7 (12): 4357–4366. Bibcode:2017EcoEv...7.4357S. doi:10.1002/ece3.3002. PMC 5478079. PMID 28649347.
  21. ^ Stroud; Giery; Outerbridge (2017). "Establishment of Anolis sagrei on Bermuda represents a novel ecological threat to Critically Endangered Bermuda skinks (Plestiodon longirostris)". Biological Invasions. 19 (6): 1723–1731. Bibcode:2017BiInv..19.1723S. doi:10.1007/s10530-017-1389-1. S2CID 7584641.