Anolis chrysolepis Duméril and Bibron, 1837 (Squamata: Iguanidae), Revisited: Molecular Phylogeny and Taxonomy of the Anolis chrysolepis Species Group

The Anolis chrysolepis species group is distributed across the entire Amazon basin and currently consists of A. bombiceps and five subspecies of A. chrysolepis. These lizards are characterized by moderate size, relatively narrow digital pads, and a small dewlap that does not reach the axilla. We used the mitochondrial gene ND2 to estimate phylogenetic relationships among putative subspecies of A. chrysolepis and taxa previously hypothesized to be their close relatives. We also assessed the congruence between molecular and morphological datasets to evaluate the taxonomic status of group members. On the basis of the two datasets, we present a new taxonomy, elevating each putative subspecies of A. chrysolepis to species status. We provide new morphological diagnoses and new distributional data for each species.