New lizard species found in the Dominican Republic
June 18, 2016
New lizard species found in the Dominican Republic
by Chuck Bednar
June 18, 2016
New lizard species found in the Dominican Republic
by Chuck Bednar
Hidden in plain sight in the middle of the most highly trafficked island in the Caribbean, a new type of chameleon-like lizard has become the first new species of anole found in the Dominican Republic in decades, researchers from the University of Toronto revealed on Friday.
The new species, which was dubbed Anolis landestoyi in honor of the research who first saw and snapped a photograph of this particular Greater Antillean anole, could help explain why different islands are home to different but similar-looking groups of lizards, the researchers explained.
Many types of Greater Antillean anoles have counterparts on other islands, Luke Mahler of the university’s Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and the lead author of a new study (published in the journal The American Naturalist) detailing the findings, said in a press release.
This phenomenon is known as replicated adaptive radiation, and occurs when related types of creatures evolving on different islands diversify into similar sets of species occupying the same ecological niches, the researchers said. Most Greater Antillean anoles have close matches living on other Caribbean islands, but as many as one-fifth of them do not.
Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1113414624/new-lizard-species-061816/#lQOvTf0OmTwGyvZe.99
You haven't heard the last of Anolis landestoyi!
Science:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/122847815