Ponce anole | |
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In Ponce, Puerto Rico | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Iguania |
Family: | Dactyloidae |
Genus: | Anolis |
Species: | A. poncensis
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Binomial name | |
Anolis poncensis | |
Synonyms | |
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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]
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]
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]
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]