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Norops

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Norops
Norops polylepis (syn. Anolis polylepis), displaying its dewlap
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Dactyloidae
Genus: Norops
Wagler, 1830
Species

More than 150, see text

Norops is the proposed genus for more than 150 species of anole lizards traditionally classified in the genus Anolis. They are native to Mexico, South and Central America, and the West Indies.[1] Depending on the exact species, adults have a snout-to-vent of between about 3 and 13 cm (1.2–5.1 in), ranging from the small five-striped grass anole to the Jamaican giant anole.[1]

Taxonomy

The first recognition of this group happened in 1959–1960 when it was proposed that Anolis could be split into two groups, the so-called "alpha anoles" and "beta anoles". The former comprised most anole subgroups, while the latter essentially equalled Norops.[1][2] The "beta anoles" form a monophyletic group, but the "alpha anoles" do not.[1][2] In 1986, the "beta anoles" were recognized as a genus, Norops, while the "alpha anoles" were split into multiple genera (some of which had already been proposed earlier) based primarily on skeletal characters.[3] This was adopted by some (including many scientists working with reptiles in Central America) and rejected by others (including many scientists in the West Indies), who continued placing all in Anolis. Later studies confirmed that Norops was monophyletic, but a few of the other genera proposed in 1986 were not.[4] A resolution to this was proposed in 2012 when Anolis was split into eight genera, including Norops.[1] This move was criticized, especially because some considered the change unnecessary when it was possible to maintain a status quo by keeping all anoles in the genus Anolis.[5] Later studies have confirmed that the genera proposed in 2012 essentially are monophyletic, but prefer to only treat them as clades within Anolis.[2]

There are three primary subclades within Norops: The N. auratus group ("Draconura") alone contains about 150 species, including the vast majority of anoles from Mexico and Central America, but also some from South America (as far south as Paraguay) and nearby small islands. The two remaining groups have far fewer species and are native to the West Indies. The N. sagrei group ("Trachypilus") contains almost 20 species from Cuba and nearby small islands, as well as the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Swan Island. The N. valencienni group ("Placopsis") contains less than 10 species from Jamaica and Grand Cayman.[1][2] Among these, the brown anole has been widely introduced to regions outside its native range, both in the Americas (including Florida and Texas) and other continents.[1][6] The Graham's anole has been introduced to Bermuda.[7]

Species

Norops auratus
Norops conspersus
Norops garmani
Norops grahami
Norops poecilopus
Norops sagrei
Norops vittigerus

Norops includes the following species:[8]

Morphological characteristics

Whether Norops is classified as a clade or a genus, most taxonomists have agreed on what morphological characteristics warrant the placement of a species inside the group. Etheridge classified his beta anoles as species that shared the certain aspects of vertebral morphology; Nicholson et al. went further by defining Norops as species that shared the following specific aspects of skeletal morphology:[1]

  1. structure of caudal vertebrae and mechanism of autotomy
  2. location of pineal foramen
  3. absence of pterygoid teeth
  4. usual absence of splenial
  5. lower jaw morphology
  6. number of lumbar vertebrae

There is remarkable morphological variation within this clade, even relative to other clades in Anolis; however most Norops species share a set of similar characteristics that are readily observable even to the untrained eye; they are usually small to mid-size anoles, though a few species such as Anolis (Norops) garmani can grow much larger. They typically have robust bodies and stout, blunt heads; they exist in a variety of ecomorphs.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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)". Zootaxa. 3477: 1–108. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3477.1.1.
  2. ^ a b c d 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.
  3. ^ Guyer, C.; Savage, J.M. (1986). "Cladistic relationships among anoles (Sauria: Iguanidae)". Systematic Zoology. 35 (4): 509–531. doi:10.2307/2413112. JSTOR 2413112.
  4. ^ Poe, S. (2004). "Phylogeny of Anoles". Herpetological Monographs. 18: 37–89. doi:10.1655/0733-1347(2004)018[0037:POA]2.0.CO;2.
  5. ^ Poe, S. (2013). "1986 Redux: New genera of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) are unwarranted". Zootaxa. 3626 (2): 295–299. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3626.2.7. PMID 26176139.
  6. ^ "Brown Anole - Anolis sagrei". California Herps. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  7. ^ Conyers, J.; Wingate, D. (2018). "Plestiodon longirostris ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 1996. IUCN: e.T8218A12900393. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.1996.RLTS.T8218A12900393.en. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |last-author-amp= ignored (|name-list-style= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Norops, The Reptile Database
  • Losos, J.B. (2009). Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree: Ecology and Adaptive Radiation of Anoles. University of California Press:Berkeley, Ca. [1]
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