Anolis soinii Poe and Yañez-Miranda, 2008 (Squamata: Iguanidae: Polychrotinae): Distribution extension, first records for Ecuador and notes on geographic variation

: The anole lizard Anolis soinii was described from a single locality in northern Peru in 2008. We report the first records of A. soinii from southern Ecuador, Provincia Zamora-Chinchipe: Valladolid-Yangana road; Romerillos Alto; Estación Científica San Francisco; Zamora-Loja road; and Refugio de Vida Silvestre El Zarza. The Valladolid-Yangana road, the nearest record, is approximately 196 km NW from the only known locality of A. soinii (Venceremos, Departamento Martín, Peru). We also present information on lepidosis and coloration of the new specimens.

. Anolis soinii Poe and Yañez-Miranda 2008 was described based on specimens from a single locality in Peru, and it remains known only from its type locality. This species was assigned to the punctatus species group (sensu Williams 1976) based on its Alpha-type caudal vertebrae (i.e., lacking transverse processes on posterior caudal vertebrae), moderately sized dorsal head scales, moderate to large body size, and greatly expanded toepads (Poe and Yañez-Miranda 2008). The punctatus species group occurs in humid tropical forests of South America on both sides of the Andes (Savage 2002), with nine species reported for Ecuador (Anolis anchicayae, A. chloris, A. chocorum, A. fasciatus, A. festae, A. nigrolineatus, A. peraccae, A. punctatus, and A. transversalis), although A. nigrolineatus might be a junior synonym of A. festae (Williams 1982;Poe et al. 2009). Based on phylogenetic analyses of morphological characters Poe et al. (2008) found A. soinii (labeled as sp. A in their Figure 5) to be the sister species of A. transversalis.
Herein we report the first records of A. soinii for Ecuador ( Figure 1) Figure 1). Romerillos Alto, the second locality listed, lies approximately 204 km northwest of Venceremos. More remote localities (Estación Científica San Francisco and road from Zamora to Loja) lie approximately 238 km northwest of Venceremos. The Table 1. Geographic variation between Ecuadorian and Peruvian populations of Anolis soinii. Comparisons of scale counts and measurements (mm) given as: range, (sample size), mean. FL = femoral length, SVL = snout-vent length.
The color pattern of the Ecuadorian specimens is similar to that of Peruvian specimens, except for some females. All Peruvian females have a vertebral stripe, while Ecuadorian females either have a vertebral stripe (9 specimens, e.g. Figure 2C) or a longitudinal middorsal series of blotches (2 specimens, e.g. Figure 2D) or chevrons (1 specimen). Two female blotched patterns can be described in Ecuadorian specimens. Pattern 1 ( Figure 2D, color in life) displays a dark green dorsum, nape with two white blotches, body with 8 white middorsal blotches, tail with three cream blotches proximally, followed by cream and brown bands, body flanks brownish green with greenish yellow dots forming alternating bands that extend posteroventrally, and limbs brown-green with irregular cream bands, each band with white dots. Pattern 2 (juvenile QCAZ 9872, color in preservative) has a grayish-brown dorsum, nape with two dirty white blotches, body with seven dirty white middorsal chevrons, and tail with five dirty white blotches followed by cream and grayish brown bands.
The dewlap color in males of Ecuadorian specimens is similar to that described by Poe et al. (2008). When stressed, an Ecuadorian male turned to the following color pattern ( Figure 2B): dewlap skin pale salmon with dark grey irregular spotting; within each row of two to five dewlap scales, central two rows pale yellowish green and lateral rows turquoise; distomarginals, anterior and posterior marginals pale cream with some pale turquoise scales; apicogorgetals yellowish cream and turquoise; apicosternals pale green and turquoise.
Specimens from Ecuador were collected sleeping at night on hanging ferns and leaves 0.7-4.5 m above ground (QCAZ 9858-64, 9866-73, FHGO 2812-14), and during the day on the trunk of a small tree 1.5 m above ground (QCAZ 6794). Specimens were collected in secondary forest and ravines near the edges of roads. The smallest specimen (QCAZ 9858) was collected on 28 September 2009 (38.5 mm SVL, 91.6 mm tail length).
Anolis soinii occurs in sympatry with two species of anoles (Anolis podocarpus and an undescribed species) in Parque Nacional Podocarpus, southern Ecuador. The records herein presented provide an important contribution to the knowledge of the geographic distribution and morphology variation of Anolis soinii, showing that this species is more widespread than previously thought. This new finding is also relevant for developing conservation strategies for this species in the future. Some individuals of this species have been collected within protected areas in southern Ecuador, such as Parque Nacional Podocarpus and Refugio de Vida Silvestre El Zarza, which suggests that at least some populations of A. soinii are well protected.
Anolis soinii is morphologically similar to A. huilae from the eastern Andes of Colombia. However no similar green anoles have been found in the intervening range of A. soinii and A. huilae in northern Ecuador (approximately 650-750 kilometers) despite searches focused on anoles, although these searches have been limited in number. Perhaps future survey work will discover A. soinii or A. huilae in northeastern Andean Ecuador, or if these species may be disjunct.