A new species of semiaquatic Anolis (Squamata: Dactyloidae) from Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico

We describe a new species of semiaquatic Anolis (A. purpuronectes) from the Chimalapas region of eastern Oaxaca and adjacent Veracruz, Mexico, and investigate its phylogenetic relationships with the closely related species A. barkeri to which the populations under investigation have previously been assigned to. Anolis barkeri and the new species appear to be allopatric, and differ primarily in male dewlap colour (red and orange in A. barkeri, pale purple in A. purpuronectes). A partitioned Bayesian analysis of the mitochondrial genes encoding ND1 (part), ND2, and the intervening tRNAs revealed that A. barkeri and A. purpuronectes are genetically distinct (uncorrected genetic distance between them=11.5%), nested within the A. schiedii group as sister species, and most closely related to a clade composed of A. cymbops, A. milleri, and A. parvicirculatus.