A revision of the genus Audantia of Hispaniola with description of four new species (Reptilia: Squamata: Dactyloidae)

Abstract

We revise the species of Audantia, a genus of dactyloid lizards endemic to Hispaniola. Based on our analyses of morphological and genetic data we recognize 14 species in this genus, four of which we describe as new species (A. aridius sp. nov., A. australis sp. nov., A. higuey sp. nov., and A. hispaniolae sp. nov.), and two are resurrected from the synonymy of A. cybotes (A. doris comb. nov., A. ravifaux comb. nov.). Also, we place Anolis citrinellus Cope, 1864 in the synonymy of Ctenonotus distichus (Cope, 1861); Anolis haetianus Garman, 1887 in the synonymy of Audantia cybotes (Cope, 1863); and Anolis whitemani Williams, 1963 in the synonymy of Audantia saxatilis (Mertens, 1938). Finally, we designate a lectotype for Anolis cybotes Cope, 1863, and for Anolis riisei Reinhardt & Lütken, 1863. Our main focus is on the populations of anoles formerly referred to as Audantia cybotes which we demonstrate to be a complex of seven distinct species. For these seven species we provide a standardized description of external morphology, color descriptions in life, color photographs in life, description and illustration of hemipenis morphology (if available), distribution maps based on the specimens examined, comments on the conservation status, and natural history notes. Finally, we provide a dichotomous key for the identification of the 14 species of the genus Audantia occuring on Hispaniola.

Taxonomy of Horned Lizards, Genus Phrynosoma (Squamata, Phrynosomatidae)

“…Since most of the commonly used mtDNA markers seem to be relatively fast evolving, they are well-suited to the detection of genetic divergences among recently split taxa. We even tend to find more clades in an mtDNA tree than are supported by other evidence lines, such as external morphology, hemipenial morphology in squamate reptiles, or bioacoustics in frogs [26]. On the other hand, if the mtDNA data do not indicate any genetic structuring among the studied populations, then it can safely be concluded that there is no evidence for the recognition of more than one taxon for this set of populations.…”

New distributional records of the Samana least gecko (Sphaerodactylus samanensis, Cochran, 1932) with comments on its morphological variation and conservation status

“…Also, we followed Köhler (2012) to name the colors in our description. In addition, we follow taxonomy established by Poe (2013) which unlike (Köhler et al, 2019), regards Anolis as a valid genus for Dactyloid lizards from Hispaniola.…”