Natural hybridization between two species of green Anoles: morphological and genetic evidence

Abstract

Anoles are a group of lizards that offer a wide range of opportunities to study different biological topics. In this work, we examined some aspects of the morphology from 139 individuals of green anoles collected in urban parks of Santo Domingo and the Distrito Nacional. We investigated evidence of hybridization between the two Hispaniola endemic species Anolis chlorocyanus and A. cyanostictus and the introduced species A. porcatus. We categorized the individuals in pure species and intermediates based on their phenotype. Additionally, mitochondrial 16S sequence data was generated from the collected specimens, to compare molecular and phenotypic species assignments. We consider the general congruence between both data sets in most but inconsistency in a few specimens as evidence for hybridization between the two endemic species. However, we did not find evidence of hybridization between any of these species and the introduced species A. porcatus. Nevertheless, the continuous expansion of the distribution of this invasive species possibly will have drastic negative consequences for the populations of the endemic species.

Distribution and ecological aspects of Anolis (Squamata, Dactyloidae) on the main campus of the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

“…(Arias 1989), which could cause declines in populations of the native lizards. Additional study of these species is necessary to help prevent declines in endemic and native species and the potential hybridization, as documented by Gabot-Rodriguez et al (2020).…”

“…Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti) has more than 56 documented species of Anolis (Hedges 2020) found in every land ecosystem, representing every ecomorph, and occupying several niches. Gabot et al (2020) reported the hybridization between two species of anoles on Hispaniola, where Anolis porcatus is allopatric with A. chlorocyanus and A. cyanostictus. Reyes et al (2018) produced a checklist the herpetofauna of the campus of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) and Sano and Montero (2018) analyzed the tree preferences of two species of anole lizards.…”

Rapid introgression of invasive alleles following hybridization between a native Anolis lizard species and a cryptic invader across an urban landscape

“…Aside from its occurrence across a mosaic of habitat types, this hybridization event is notable for two other reasons. First, while a few previous instances of hybridization among anole species have been recorded (Gabot-Rodriguez et al, 2020;Gorman & Atkins, 1968;Jenssen, 1977;Jezkova et al, 2013;Kohler et al, 2010;MacGuigan et al, 2017), such events are rare within the nearly 400-species Anolisclade (Losos, 2009). Second, the genetically distinct nature of the hybrid population is indicative of historic admixture followed by in situ population differentiation (Wegener et al, 2019).…”

Rapid introgression of non‐native alleles following hybridization between a native Anolis lizard species and a cryptic invader across an urban landscape

“…Aside from its occurrence across a mosaic of habitat types, this hybridization event is notable for two other reasons. First, while a few previous instances of hybridization among anole species have been recorded (Gabot‐Rodriguez et al, 2020; Gorman & Atkins, 1968; Jenssen, 1977; Jezkova et al, 2013; Kohler et al, 2010; MacGuigan et al, 2017), such events are rare within the nearly 400‐species Anolis clade (Losos, 2009). Second, the genetically distinct nature of the hybrid population is indicative of historic admixture followed by in situ population differentiation (Wegener et al, 2019).…”