''Anolis gingivinus'', also known as the Anguilla Bank tree anole, Anguilla bank anole, and Anguilla anole, is a species of

anole 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 ...

lizard that 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

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

islands of

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The territo ...

and its satellites, such as Saint Martin, and

Saint Barthélemy Saint Barthélemy (french: Saint-Barthélemy, ), officially the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Barthélemy, is an overseas collectivity of France in the Caribbean. It is often abbreviated to St. Barth in French, and St. Barts in English ...

Geographic range

It is found on the Anguilla Bank of islands, which comprise

and its satellites, Saint Martin, and

; and on the smaller, nearby

Sombrero A sombrero (Spanish , ) is a type of wide-brimmed Mexican men's hat used to shield the face and eyes from the sun. It usually has a high pointed crown, an extra-wide brim (broad enough to cast a shadow over the head, neck and shoulders of the we ...

bank (politically part of Anguilla). Another Anolis gingivinus on tree trunk

Description

Males can reach a length of 72 mm snout-to-vent. It has an olive to light green

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

ground color, with a broad mid-dorsal stripe and a light stripe along its flanks. Its belly is cream to bright yellow. Males may also have gray-brown marbling or can be heavily spotted.

Ecology

It is widespread and common on Anguilla and many of its satellites, though it is heavily preyed on there by

American kestrel The American kestrel (''Falco sparverius''), also called the sparrow hawk, is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of ...

s. It was the only anole species on Anguilla and throughout most of its range, until the recent introduction to Anguilla of '' A. carolinensis''. ''A. gingivinus'' coexists on Saint Martin with '' A. pogus''. Their distribution there does not completely overlap, and where they are both found they appear to fill different niches, for example by ''A. gingivinus'' preferring higher and more exposed perches..

Notes

References

*. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1445538 Anoles Lizards of the Caribbean Reptiles of Anguilla Reptiles of Saint Barthélemy Reptiles of Saint Martin (island) Reptiles described in 1864 Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope