Dactyloa roquet

Nicholson, Kirsten E., Crother, Brian I., Guyer, Craig & Savage, Jay M., 2012, 3477, Zootaxa 3477, pp. 1-108 : 23-24

Dactyloa roquet Species Group

Diagnosis. — Support for this group is provided by 83 apomorphies including 12 morphological and 71 molecular ones. Five morphological features are unequivocal: enlarged postanal scales absent in males (10: a to z); increased mean number of ventral scales in 5% of snout-to-vent length (20: m to o); increased modal number of lumbar vertebrae (52: 0 to 1); caudal autotomy septa present (54: z to a); supratemporal process leaves supraoccipital exposed above (61: z to a); prefrontal separated from contact with nasal (63: a to z); and anteriormost aspect of posterior border of dentary anterior to mandibular fossa (84: a–z). There are 35 unequivocal molecular apomorphies (see Appendix II).

Definition. — Lizards of this species group are moderate sized to giant anoles (maximum snout-to-vent length in adult males 74 to 140 mm and 55 to 86 mm in adult females) sharing the following combination of characters: 1) inscriptional rib formula usually 4:0, rarely 3:1; 2) caudal autotomy septa present; 3) large splenial present; 4) single rows of scales on the dewlap; 5) single row of middorsal caudal scales.

Content. — This species group contains nine species and a total of 14 species and subspecies (see Appendix III).

Distribution. — Southern Lesser Antilles , Blanquilla Island off northern Venezuela and Bonaire Island ( Fig. 11).

Introductions. — Dactyloa aenea to Trinidad and Guyana; D. extrema to St. Lucia, Bermuda, and Caracas, Venezuela; D. richardii to Tobago; D. roquet to Bermuda; D. trinitatis to Trinidad.

Genus Deiroptyx Fitzinger, 1843

Deiroptyx Fitzinger, 1843 ; Systema Reptilium: 17: 66. Type species: Anolis vermiculatus Cocteau in Duméril and Bibron, 1837 (4): 28 by original designation. Savage and Guyer (2004: 204) acting as first revisers gave precedence to this name over all other genus-group names proposed by Fitzinger (1843) applicable to dactyloids, except Ctenonotus . Proposed as a subgenus of Ptychonotus .

Eupristis Fitzinger, 1843: 16 , 64. Type species: Anolis equestris Merrem, 1820: 45 by original designation. Savage and Guyer (2004: 304) acting as first revisers gave precedence to this name over all other genus-group names proposed by Fitzinger (1843) applicable to dactyloids, except Ctenonotus and Deiroptyx . Proposed as a subgenus of Ctenonotus .

Diagnosis. — Support for this genus is based on 47 apomorphies including five morphological features and 42 molecular ones. There are three unequivocal morphological features: size of interparietal scale increased (7: u to m); decreased mean number of ventral scales in 5% of snout-to-vent length (20: s to n); and pterygoid teeth present (71: z to a). There are 14 unequivocal molecular apomorphies (see Appendix II).

Definition. — Members of the genus Deiroptyx are defined as dactyloid lizards having: 1) the alpha condition of the caudal vertebrae ( Etheridge, 1967, Fig. 2C) in which the caudal vertebrae anterior to the first autotomic vertebra are aseptate and have transverse processes and the posterior caudal vertebrae lack transverse processes but have autotomy septa; 2) interclavicle T-shaped ( Guyer and Savage, 1986, Fig. 2B); 3) postfrontal bone usually present; 4) pineal foramen usually in the frontal parietal suture; 5) supratemporal processes of parietal bone almost always leave supraoccipital bone exposed above; 6) pterygoid teeth present or absent; 7) angular process of articular usually large; 8) posterior suture of dentary usually pronged, sometimes blunt; 9) splenial usually absent; 10) lower jaw sculpturing of “ Chamaeleolis ” type or wrinkling present in species of some adult males; 11) modal number of lumbar vertebrae 3 or 4; 12) modal number of caudal vertebrae anterior to first autotomic vertebra variable (6 to 10), usually 7; 13) supraoccipital cresting continuous across supraoccipital without single central process, rarely with distinct lateral processes; 14) Karyotypic variation for this genus is summarized by species group in the accounts below. Note that for 2N and N.F. values, even numbers are for females, odd numbers for males. Usually Type I karyotype: 2N = 48; others with Type III karyotype: 2N = 36 to 42 (12–16M, 26m), N.F. = 50–58 or Type VI karyotype: 2N = 44–48 (24I, 20–24m), N.F. = 44–48; no sexual heteromorphism.

Content. —This genus is comprised of five species groups containing 21 species and a total of 49 species and subspecies (see Appendix III).

Distribution. — Cuba and Hispaniola, and their satellite islands, and Puerto Rico ( Fig. 12).

Introductions. — Deiroptyx equestris to Grand Cayman Island, Florida and Hawaii; D. chlorocyana to Florida and Suriname.

Etymology. —This generic name is derived from the Greek deir = hump and ptyx = fold, presumably in reference to the well-developed nuchal crest in males. The name is feminine in gender.

Remarks. — Deiroptyx can be identified as a monophyletic lineage in every published analysis since Guyer and Savage (1986), including Alfoldi et al.’s (2011) analysis of the genome of Anolis carolinensis that includes a molecular phylogeny for 96 anole taxa based upon 46 loci and 20,000 bp of sequence data.