Geographic variation in Anolis distichus Cope lLacertiliac Iguanidaer in the Bahama Islands and Hispaniola

Anal is cUsfichus is widely distributed in the Bahama Islands and Hispaniola, including the Hispaniolan satellite islands of Ile-aVache, Grande and Petite Cayemite, Isla Catalina, and Isla Saona. Analysis of variation in head scutellation, body color and chromatic repertory, and dewlap pigmentation shows that A. distichus is divisible into the following subspecies: A. d. distichus — Bahama Islands: New Providence, Exuma Cays, Long Island, Ragged Islands; A. d. distichoidcs —Bahama Islands: Andros; A. d. J)iminiensis —Bahama Islands: South Bimini; A. d. dapsilis new subsp. —Bahama Islands: Eleuthera; A. d. ocior new subsp. — Bahama Islands: Rum Cay and San Salvador. The status of the Cat Island populations is questionable. On Hispaniola, A. disticJiiis has been divided into the following subspecies: A. d. dominicensis —most of Haiti and the northern half of the Republica Dominicana; A. d. ignigidaris —central southeastern Republica Dominicana; A. d. propenis new subsp. — extreme eastern Republica Dominicana; A. d. sejunctus new subsp. —Isla Saona; A. d. tostus new subsp. —Isla Catalina; A. d. ravitergum new subsp. —south central Republica Dominicana; A. d. favillarum new subsp. —Sierra de Baoruco in southwestern ^ Dept. of Biology, Miami-Dade Junior College, Miami, Florida 33167. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool Republica Dominicana; A. d. aurifcr new subsp. —central portion of Tiburon Peninsula in southwestern Haiti; A. d. vinosus new subsp. —southwestern portion of Tiburon Peninsula; A. d. siippar new subsp. — extreme tip of Tiburon Peninsula; A. d. patruelis new subsp. —He Grande Cayemite. A. d. floridamis has been re-established as a valid name for the continental Florida populations which do not agree with their Bahaman relatives; it is suggested that floridamis is in actuality a Bahaman form from the western portion of Andros Island. An extensive history of A. distichus is presented to account for the distribution and variation in the species. INTRODUCTIONAND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Anolis distichus Cope is a rather small and stocky anoline lizard which occurs throughout the islands of the Great Bahama Bank, Rum Cay and San Salvador, on Hispaniola and some of its satellite islands, and in Florida. The species was first described in 1861 from New Providence Island in the Bahamas. In 1863, Reinhardt and Liitken named Anolis dominicensis from Hispaniola and, although recognizing the similarities between the two species, considered dominicensis specifically distinct from distichus. Barbour (1937) apparently first combined the t\\'0 species (as A. d. distichus and A. d. dominicensis). This ., 137(2): 255-310, September, 1968 255 256 Bulletin Museum of Comparative Zoology, Vol 137, No. 2 combination was followed by Mertens (1939) and Cochran (1941); Mertens gave a thorough review of the subspecies of A. distichus which had been described in the 76 years between the naming of A. dominicensis and 1939. These subspecies include altavelensis Noble and Hassler ( Isla Alto Velo off Cabo Beata, RepubHca Dominicana), caudaJis Cochran (He de la Conave, Haiti), juliae Cochran (Ile-aVache, Haiti), and wetmorei Cochran (Isla Beata, Republica Dominicana), as well as distichoidcs Rosen (Andros Island, Bahama Islands). Mertens himself named two new subspecies from the Repuljlica Dominicana (ignifiukiris and aJhido'gidaris) and resurrected brcvirostris Bocourt as applicable to specimens from the vicinity of Barahona in the southwestern Republica Dominicana. Finally, Ohver (1948) described A. d. biminicnsis from South Bimini Island in the western Bahamas and Smith and McCauley (1948) named A. d. floridanus from southem Florida. Thus, as presently understood, there are 12 subspecies of A. distichus recognized, of which three are Bahaman, eight occur on Hispaniola and its associated islets, and one is on the North American