What kind of lizard is this?

CIRE

Arachnobaron
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I saw a bunch of these little guys while on vacation in the Dominican Republic...anybody have any idea what species they are? I'm thinking some kind of anole maybe...

 

skinheaddave

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Looks like a Norops sp. to me .. but lizards aren't really my thing.

Cheers,
Dave
 

Lasiodora

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It's an Anolis sp. They are pretty common all over the island. I found those all over my fathers back yard.The Dominican Republic has the most diverse and spectacular Anolis sp. in the carribaen.
Mike
 

skinheaddave

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Mike,

What are the traits used for the differentiation of Norops and Anolis?

Cheers,
Dave
 

Lasiodora

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To be honest with you Dave I don't know the distiguishing features. As far as I am aware though, Norops is not found in the Dominican Republic. If you find someone stating otherwise, I'd be very interested to know. I did find something of interest in the book Lizards:Windows to the evolution of diversity (Eric R. Pianka and Laurie J. Vitt)

Here's it is:
"Diversity is so great that in the late 1980s Anolis was split into five genera, Anolis, Ctenonotus, Dactyloa, Norops, and Semiurus (Guyer and Savage 1986, 1992: Savage and Guyer 1989). However, because monophyly of all five of these groups has not been established, we continue to refer to all as Anolis.


You can find a great deal of description and distribution on west indian herps in this book:

Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History
Albert Schwartz and Robert W. Henderson

It was published a couple of years back but I'm sure a lot of the info in it is still relevent. I've been wanting to buy a copy myself for awhile.

I know I had this species identified by a friend who lives over there (I showed him pics of this same lizard I took when I was there). He wrote the species name on the back of the pic but I'm a little disorganized when it comes to storing prints. I'll see if I can dig it up.

I love these lizards, they really are beautiful. If you get a chance look up a pic of Anolis bahorucoensis.
Mike
 
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CIRE

Arachnobaron
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Thanks for the info!!!

While I was there, I also saw another type of lizard...once again I have no idea what it was, nor did I get a chance to snap a pic of it, but they were even cooler looking...ran with their tails held high up in the air and had a greenish hue around their head...looked very "dinosaur-like"...
 

Lasiodora

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CIRE,
Where did you stay on the island? There are American crocs and two species of Cyclura (iguanas) at Lago Enriquillo. The lake is also the most saline lake in the carribean. There are also a couple of species of boas, a lot of colubrids, scorps, centipedes, milipedes, plenty of interesting arachnids (like the ogre faced spider) and the list goes on. I am hoping to head out there again for herping only next time I go (hopefully I can limit the family visits).
Mike
 

Michael Jacobi

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CIRE said:
I'm thinking some kind of anole maybe...
It is. Probably a female Anolis cristatellus or Anolis cybotes.

Norops and Anolis are closely related anoline genera [family Polychrotidae or subfamily Polychrotinae of family Iguanidae depending on your point of view]. Norops differ from Anolis in that they have caudal transverse processes. DNA analysis is being used to sort the over 300 species that belong to the two genera as well.

Cheers,

Michael
 
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CIRE

Arachnobaron
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Lasiodora said:
CIRE,
Where did you stay on the island? There are American crocs and two species of Cyclura (iguanas) at Lago Enriquillo. The lake is also the most saline lake in the carribean. There are also a couple of species of boas, a lot of colubrids, scorps, centipedes, milipedes, plenty of interesting arachnids (like the ogre faced spider) and the list goes on. I am hoping to head out there again for herping only next time I go (hopefully I can limit the family visits).
Mike
I stayed in Punta Cana...not much as far as herping is concerned...it was a resort, so I think they try to kill any animal that enters the "grounds"...they also sprayed a bunch of pesticides which totally pissed me off...I would have rather had bugs running all around me while I slept instead of breathing in that stuff!!!

Anyways, I don't think the other type of lizard I saw was an iguana...they were very small as well (probably 6 inches or so)

I did have the opportunity to see a tarantula...but it was dead...it wasn't a mature male either so I'm not sure why it died...probably the damn insecticides or something...it looked kinda like P. cancerides, but it was hard to tell...I did also run into something that I assume was a tarantula while I was walking around looking for stuff...it seemed pretty big, but I didn't get a good look at it since it ran under some massive fallen palm tree...but I'm counting that as a "find"...
 

Lasiodora

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The other lizard you saw was most likely a Leiocephalus sp. curlytail lizard. It's in the IGUANIDAE family.

Resorts pretty much suck as far as herping goes and seeing tourist sites. They are only good for the beach. Most resort goers freak out at the site of animal life. Since they pay the bills, the resort trys to accomadate them (thus the bug spraying). There is plenty to see in DR but you need a guide or know someone there. The first university in the Americas, the first cathedral (if I'm not mistaken), and Christopher Columbus' fort can be found in the old city. For the most part people in the country have the same fears or indifference to herps and invertebrates as they do in North America. When walking around looking for herps people would ask me what I was doing. They laughed when they got my response. My fathers neighbors told me they saw a couple of snakes before I arrived. Unfortunately they killed them. Snakes are seen as dangerous and evil there. A result of the Christian religion. Tarantulas are thought to be deadly by most. If you ever go back try to get packages whigh include visits to Enriquillo, the National parks like Los Haitises, or the historical sites. These places are protected habitats and you will find plenty of interesting flora and fauna (except the historical sites).
Mike
 

Kid Dragon

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CIRE said:
I saw a bunch of these little guys while on vacation in the Dominican Republic...anybody have any idea what species they are? I'm thinking some kind of anole maybe...
I think its Anolis segrei, the brown anole.

See what you think:
Brown Anole
 

Lasiodora

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Kid Dragon said:
I think its Anolis segrei, the brown anole.

See what you think:
Brown Anole
This species does not occur in The Dominican Republic. The only documented non-native anole in DR is Anolis cristatellus (Puerto Rican crested anole).
Mike
 
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