Dactyloidae

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: /əˈn.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.