''Anolis etheridgei'', also known commonly as Etheridge's anole and the montane bush anole, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Dactyloidae Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles () and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat it as a subfami ...

. The species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

."''Anolis etheridgei'' ". The Reptile Database. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Anolis&species=etheridgei

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''etheridgei'', is in honor of American herpetologist Richard Emmett Etheridge. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Anolis etheridgei'', p. 86).

Geographic range

''A. etheridgei'' occurs in the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic.

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of ''A. etheridgei'' is

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

, at altitudes of .

Description

A small anole, ''A. etheridgei'' may attain a snout-to-vent length of . The tail is long, more than twice SVL. The dewlap is small and white, and the iris of the eye is blue.

Diet

''A. etheridgei''

preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

upon

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

Reproduction

''A. etheridgei'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

References

* Mahler DL (2010). "Natural history observations for two montane anole species from the Dominican Republic". (''Anolis etheridgei'', pp. 115–117). * Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History''. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. . (''Anolis etheridgei'', p. 259). *Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). ''A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles''. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (''Anolis etheridgei'', p. 82). * Williams EE (1962). "Notes on the herpetology of Hispaniola. 7. New material of two poorly known anoles: ''Anolis monticola'' Shreve and ''Anolis christophei'' Williams". ''Breviora'' (164): 1–11. (''Anolis etheridgei'', new name, p. 1). Anoles Endemic fauna of the Dominican Republic Reptiles of the Dominican Republic Reptiles described in 1962 Taxa named by Ernest Edward Williams {{lizard-stub