Published April 4, 2022. Updated December 22, 2023. Open access. | Gallery ❯ |
Two-marked Anole (Anolis binotatus)
Reptiles of Ecuador | Sauria | Anolidae | Anolis binotatus
English common names: Two-marked Anole, Roof Anole, West Ecuadorian Anole, White-Ribbon Anole.
Spanish common names: Anolis de dos marcas, anolis de dorso cubierto, anolis de cinta blanca.
Recognition: ♂♂ 17.9 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=5.8 cm. ♀♀ 14.6 cmMaximum distance from the snout to the tip of the tail. Snout–vent length=4.7 cm..1,2 Anoles are easily distinguishable from other lizards by their diurnal habits, extensible dewlap in males, expanded digital pads, and granular scales on the dorsum and belly.3 The Two-marked Anole (Anolis binotatus) is a small brown lizard that can be differentiated from other co-occurring anoles by having a white ventrolateral stripe,4 inverted chevrons on the back, brown iris, and an orange dewlap in males.1,5 Anolis binotatus can be confused with A. gracilipes, a species lacking white ventrolateral stripes and in which males have a saffron yellow dewlap (instead of orange-red).6,7 Males of A. binotatus differ from females by having a dewlap and a thickening at the base of the tail due to the presence of the hemipenes.
Figure 1: Individuals of Anolis binotatus from Ecuador: Hacienda Cerro Chico, Los Ríos province (); Cerro de Hayas, Guayas province (); Buenaventura Reserve, El Oro province (). j=juvenile.
Natural history: Anolis binotatus is a common diurnal lizard that inhabits old-growth to heavily disturbed evergreen lowland forests and seasonally dry forests. This species also occurs in semi-open human-modified habitats such as plantations, roadside vegetation, border of pastures, and planted forests.2,8 During the day, Two-marked Anoles dwell on soil and leaf-litter or on shrubs usually no more than 2 meters above the ground.2,8 At night, these anoles sleep perched on thin branches, leaves, grass blades, twigs of bushes, and wire fences at 3–150 cm above the ground.2 Anolis binotatus is an insectivorous species,2 but the specific prey items consumed have not been reported. There are records of snakes (Bothrops asper and Imantodes cenchoa) preying upon individuals of this species.2 Two-marked Anoles rely primarily on their “dry leaf” camouflage to go unnoticed, but they can also jump to the ground and swiftly run away.2 When grabbed by a predator, Two-marked Anoles can shed the tail, which remains wiggling on the ground while the lizard escapes.2 Anolis binotatus is an oviparous species,9 but the clutch size and nesting sites are not known.
Conservation: Near Threatened Not currently at risk of extinction, but requires some level of management to maintain healthy populations.. Anolis binotatus is proposed to be listed in this category, instead of Least Concern,10,11 because the species is much less widely-distributed and more affected by deforestation that previously thought. In this work, A. binotatus is considered to be restricted to an area smaller than 30,000 km2 (Fig. 2) where more than 81% of the forest has been converted to pastures, agricultural fields, and human settlements.12 Furthermore, the use of agrochemicals and predation by chickens and cats could affect some populations. Although it could qualify for a threatened category, the species appears well adapted to human-modified environments.
Distribution: Anolis binotatus is endemic to an estimated 27,241 km2 area on the Chocoan–Tumbesian transition area as well as adjacent foothills of the Andes in western Ecuador (Fig. 2).
Figure 2: Distribution of Anolis binotatus in Ecuador. The star corresponds to the type locality: Guayaquil, Guayas province. See Appendix 1 for a complete list of the presence localities included in the map.
Etymology: The generic name Anolis is thought to have originated from Cariban languages, specifically from the word anoli, which is the name Arawak peoples may have used to refer to this group of lizards.13 The specific epithet binotatus, which is the combination of the Latin words bi (=two) and notatus (=mark),14 probably refers to the longitudinal marks on the flanks of this species.15
See it in the wild: Two-marked Anoles are easily located in forested areas throughout the species’ area of distribution. The best way to find these lizards is to search for them at night along forest borders or trails while they sleep on thin branches or wire fences. Anolis binotatus appears particularly common in Buenaventura Reserve, Lalo Loor Reserve, and Cerro de Hayas Protected Area.
Notes: In this account, we consider Anolis bitectus16 and A. lemniscatus17 to be junior synonyms of A. binotatus.15 This decision is based on the lack of diagnosable morphological differences between the three forms as well as the close geographical proximity between the type localities (Fig. 2).
Acknowledgments: Special thanks to Lina Parra for helping compile information used in this account.
Authors: Jose VieiraaAffiliation: Tropical Herping (TH), Quito, Ecuador.,bAffiliation: ExSitu, Quito, Ecuador. and Alejandro ArteagacAffiliation: Khamai Foundation, Quito, Ecuador.
Photographer: Jose VieiraaAffiliation: Tropical Herping (TH), Quito, Ecuador.,bAffiliation: ExSitu, Quito, Ecuador.
How to cite? Vieira J, Arteaga A (2022) Two-marked Anole (Anolis binotatus). In: Arteaga A, Bustamante L, Vieira J (Eds) Reptiles of Ecuador: Life in the middle of the world. Available from: www.reptilesofecuador.com. DOI: 10.47051/SQSO7747
Literature cited:
- Williams EE, Rand H, Rand AS, O’Hara RJ (1995) A computer approach to the comparision and identification of species in difficult taxonomic groups. Breviora 502: 1–47.
- Field notes, Reptiles of Ecuador book project.
- Peters JA, Donoso-Barros R (1970) Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: part II, lizards and amphisbaenians. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, Washington, D.C., 293 pp.
- Poe S (2019) Identification key for Anolis: Anolekey 2019.1. Available from: http://www.stevenpoe.net
- Castro Herrera F, Ayala SC (1988) Saurios de Colombia. Unpublished, Bogotá, 692 pp.
- Arteaga A, Bustamante L, Guayasamin JM (2013) The amphibians and reptiles of Mindo. Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica, Quito, 257 pp.
- MECN (2010) Serie herpetofauna del Ecuador: El Chocó esmeraldeño. Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales, Quito, 232 pp.
- Cruz García FK (2017) Diversidad y preferencia de microhábitats de la herpetofauna del Bosque Protector Pedro Franco Dávila (Jauneche) y del Área Provincial Natural de Recreación Cerro de Hayas (Naranjal). BSc thesis, Universidad de Guayaquil, 94 pp.
- Uetz P, Freed P, Hošek J (2021) The reptile database. Available from: www.reptile-database.org
- Ayala F, Caicedo JR, Calderón M, Ines Hladki A, Ramírez Pinilla M, Renjifo J, Rivas G, Urbina N (2013) Anolis binotatus. The IUCN Red List of threatened species. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T44577183A44577188.en
- Reyes-Puig C (2015) Un método integrativo para evaluar el estado de conservación de las especies y su aplicación a los reptiles del Ecuador. MSc thesis, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, 73 pp.
- MAE (2012) Línea base de deforestación del Ecuador continental. Ministerio del Ambiente del Ecuador, Quito, 30 pp.
- Allsopp R (1996) Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 776 pp.
- Brown RW (1956) Composition of scientific words. Smithsonian Books, Washington D.C., 882 pp.
- Peters WCH (1863) Über einige neue Arten der Saurier-Gattung Anolis. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussische Akademie des Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1863: 135–149.
- Cope ED (1864) Contributions to the herpetology of tropical America. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 16: 166–181.
- Boulenger GA (1898) An account of the reptiles and batrachians collected by Mr. Rosenberg in western Ecuador. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 9: 107–126.
Appendix 1: Locality data used to create the distribution map of Anolis binotatus in Ecuador (Fig. 2). Go to the section on symbols and abbreviations for a list of acronyms used. Asterisk (*) indicates type locality.
| Country | Province | Locality | Source |
| Ecuador | Azuay | Cacaoloma | Photo by Diego Armijos |
| Ecuador | Azuay | Camilo Ponce Enriquez | MZUA.Re.0112; examined |
| Ecuador | Azuay | Sarayunga | José Manuel Falcón, pers. comm. |
| Ecuador | Bolivar | Cascada Milagrosa | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Bolívar | Balzapamba | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Bolívar | Caluma | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | Bolívar | Moraspungo, 5 km E of | USNM 286070; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Bolívar | Pilahuín | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | Bolívar | Río Chimbo | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Bolívar | Telimbela | Ayala-Varela et al. 2014 |
| Ecuador | Cañar | Río Patul | Felipe Campos, pers. comm. |
| Ecuador | Cañar | Ventura | AMNH 23033; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Chimborazo | Hostería SantVal | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Chimborazo | Naranjapata | CAS 94237; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Chimborazo | Pallatanga | Cope 1864 |
| Ecuador | Chimborazo | Río Chanchán | CAS 94762; VertNet |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Buenavista, 7 km SE of | USNM 234592; VertNet |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Cascadas de Manuel | Garzón-Santomaro et al. 2019 |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Lote Tituana | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Machala, 7 km ESE of | USNM 234593; VertNet |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Ñalacapac | Garzón-Santomaro et al. 2019 |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Pasaje, 3 km E of | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Remolinos | Garzón-Santomaro et al. 2019 |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Reserva Biológica Buenaventura | Betancourt et al. 2018 |
| Ecuador | El Oro | Reserva Militar Arenillas | Garzón-Santomaro et al. 2019 |
| Ecuador | Esmeraldas | Cerro Mutiles | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | Esmeraldas | Hacienda Cucaracha | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Esmeraldas | Hacienda de Germán Cortez | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Esmeraldas | Hacienda Guinchele | GBIF |
| Ecuador | Esmeraldas | Partidero-Poza Honda | Vázquez et al. 2005 |
| Ecuador | Esmeraldas | Tonchigue | Photo by Martín Carrera |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Bosque Protector Cerro Blanco | Salvatierra et al. 2014 |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Cerro de Hayas | This work; Fig. 1 |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Cerro El Mate | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Chimbo | Boulenger 1898 |
| Ecuador | Guayas | El Triunfo | Torres-Carvajal et al. 2019 |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Empalme | UF 83798; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Guayaquil* | Peters 1863 |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Naranjal | MCZ 176377; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Río Congo | USNM 234590; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Guayas | Río de la Esperanza | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Bosque Protector Pedro Franco Dávila | Cruz & Sánchez 2016 |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Finca María José | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Hacienda Cerro Chico | This work; Fig. 1 |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | La Planada | iNaturalist; photo examined |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Montalvo | Ayala-Varela et al. 2020 |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Pacalori | MZUA.Re.0163; examined |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Quevedo, 4 km N of | KU 132480; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Los Ríos | Ventanas | MCZ 57449; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Los Rios | Pichilingue | MCZ 77377; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Manabí | Bosque Seco Lalo Loor | Reptiles of Ecuador book database |
| Ecuador | Manabí | Eloy Alfaro | Photo by Regdy Vera |
| Ecuador | Manabí | Reserva Jama Coaque | Lynch et al. 2016 |
| Ecuador | Manabí | Río Coaque | KU 218372; VertNet |
| Ecuador | Manabí | Three Forests Trail | Photo by Paul Maier |
| Ecuador | Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas | Crest of Montañas de Ilá | USNM 285673; VertNet |