Anolis polylepis
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Anolis polylepis presents its throat flag |
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| Peters , 1874 |
Anolis polylepis ( Syn .: Norops polylepis , English Many-scaled Anole or Golfo Dulce Anole ) is a species of lizard from the suborder of the iguanas .
features
Anolis polylepis reaches a total length of 18 cm, the recorded maximum head-trunk length is 59.4 mm for the males and 53.5 mm for the females. It is a slender, often graceful lizard with long legs (the longest toe extends at least to the middle of the eye when the hind leg is laid on), smooth ventral scales (abdominal scales), a bilobed hemipenis and vertically oval ear openings. In males there are 134–212 scales in a row around the middle of the body, in females 140–212. Under the fourth toe there are 21–29 subdigital lamellae.
The orange-yellow throat flag of the males is large and reaches to the chest, in the females it is absent. The back is brown to reddish brown with spots in a line along the middle of the back. Some females show a line of diamond-shaped spots or a broad stripe along the middle of the back, in others the dark belly side is delimited with numerous points. In a living male specimen, the dorsal basic color is described as citrine-colored and dark brownish olive, the abdominal color as cream-colored with a hint of light green. Peters describes a brown band between the eyes, a light nape of the neck and a more or less clear transverse banding of the tail in both sexes. On the back of the females there is a light, wide, wavy longitudinal band, on the back of the males there are several dark transverse bands and 4 to 5 large, crooked black spots on each side of the body from the neck to the center of the body.
distribution
Anolis polylepis is distributed along the Pacific slopes of central Costa Rica (with the exception of the Osa Peninsula) to western Panama . Anolis polylepis occurs from almost sea level to an altitude of 1615 m. As far as is known, the species found on the Osa Peninsula is anole osa . At the neck (the area of the smallest width) of the Osa Peninsula, where the two species meet, a hybridization zone about 1 km wide was detected.
Way of life
Anolis polylepis prefers habitats with moist and shady conditions. The lizards can move quickly, even on steep walls. Your jump distance is a multiple of your own body length. Usually they sit upside down. As soon as they spot a prey, they snap down. They attract females with their throat flags and mark their territory. When they present their throat flag, they perform push-up-like movements. Anolis polylepis sheds its skin regularly. Like most anoles species, this species is also diurnal. Their diet consists of caterpillars, grasshoppers and other insects. Anolis polylepis prey on snakes, birds and mammals.
The tail can be broken off at a predetermined breaking point in case of danger. A severed tail can twitch vigorously for a few minutes and thus distract the opponent. This property is known as an autotomy .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Carrol L. Henderson: Mammals, Amphibians, and Reptiles of Costa Rica. A Field Guide (= The Corrie Herring Hooks Series. No. 66). Illustrated by Steve Adams. University of Texas Press, Austin TX 2010, ISBN 978-0-292-72274-3 , p. 127.
- ↑ a b c Gunther Köhler, D. Matthias Dehling, Johannes Köhler: Cryptic species and hybridization in the Anolis polylepis complex, with the description of a new species from the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica (Squamata: Polychrotidae). In: Zootaxa . 2718, 2010, pp. 23–38, digital version (PDF; 1.63 MB) .
- ↑ Georgina Santos-Barrera, Jesus Pacheco, Fernando Mendoza-Quijano, Federico Bolaños, Gerardo Cháves, Gretchen C. Daily, Paul R. Ehrlich, Gerardo Ceballos: Diversity, natural history and conservation of amphibians and reptiles from the San Vito Region, southwestern Costa Rica. In: Revista de Biología Tropical. Vol. 56, No. 2, 2008, ISSN 0034-7744 , pp. 755-778, online .
- ↑ Wilhelm Peters : About new dinosaurs (Spæriodactylus, Anolis, Phrynosoma, Tropidolepisma, Lygosoma, Ophioscincus) from Central America, Mexico and Australia. In: Monthly reports of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin. 1873, ZDB -ID 206302-5 , pp. 738-747, online .
- ^ A b Marco D. Barquero, Viviana P. Arguedas: Structural habitat use by the Many-scaled Anole, Anolis polylepis (Squamata: Polychrotidae). In: Acta Herpetologica. Vol. 4, No. 2, 2009, ISSN 1827-9635 , pp. 135-142, digitized version (PDF; 290.57 kB) .
- ↑ Jay M. Savage: The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica. A herpetofauna between two continents, between two seas. University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL 2002, ISBN 0-226-73538-9 , pp. 473-475.