Anolis poncensis

Anolis poncensis (commonly known as Ponce small-fanned anole, Ponce anole and dryland grass anole;^[4]) is a species of lizard of the family of Dactyloidae.^[5] The species is endemic to Puerto Rico.^[6] It was first identified in Ponce, in the hills three miles east^[a] of the city.^[7] The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources considers it a "vulnerable species".^[8]

Ponce anole
In Ponce, Puerto Rico
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Iguania
Family:	Dactyloidae
Genus:	Anolis
Species:	A. poncensis
Binomial name
Anolis poncensis Stejneger, 1904[2]
Synonyms
Ctenonotus poncensis Nicholson, et al., 2012[3]

Description

The body of this anole is longer and more slender than other grass Anoles. It has distinguishing brownish dorsum, greenish sides, blue eyes, a small white dewlap, a short pale lateral line, and a number of black spots behind the eyes.^[9] Males grow up to 44 mm and females up to 40 mm.^[10]

Anolis poncensis diagram from Stejneger, L. "The herpetology of Porto Rico". Rept. United States Natl. Mus. 1902: pp. 666. (1904).

Distribution

This species is endemic to Puerto Rico.^[11] Its distribution is rather small, being limited to the arid and semi-arid western half of the southern coast of the island.^[12] It was identified and catalogued in 1902 by Leonhard Stejneger, a curator with the Division of Reptiles and Batrachians of the United States National Museum.^[13]

Etymology

Its species name, consisting of "ponce" plus the Latin suffix -nsis, was given in reference to the place of its discovery, the city of Ponce.^[14] Its discovery and documentation were originally published in Stejneger, 1904: "The herpetology of Porto Rico".^[15]

See also

• Puerto Rico portal
• Biology portal
• Amphibians and Reptiles portal

• Fauna of Puerto Rico
• List of reptiles of Puerto Rico

Notes

1. There are no hills east of Ponce; all hills near Ponce are either north or west of Ponce. As the map on page 619 of this following source (https://faculty.unlv.edu/jrodriguez/39.pdf [Living together but remaining apart: comparative phylogeography of Anolis poncensis and A. cooki, two lizards endemic to the aridlands of Puerto Rico]) shows, as well as the location descriptions ("El Tuque", etc.,) given there (example: p. 621), the habitat for this species is clearly in the hills --and drylands-- west (not east) of Ponce, and, as such, Stejneger 1904's documentation appears to be a typo, most likely due to human directional interpretation error.