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Anolis
	Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Chordata;
Class:	Reptilia;
Order:	Squamata;
Family:	Polychrotidae;
Genus:	Anolis; (Daudin, 1802)
Species
	c.372, see text

Anolis is a genus of lizards belonging to the family Polychrotidae. With nearly 400 species, Anolis represents the world's most species rich amniote genus. Several species of Anolis are occasionally ascribed to the genus Norops, but the validity of the Norops genus is not widely accepted. The Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) has recently become the first reptile to have its complete genome sequenced.^[1]

[edit] Ecomorphs

Anolis lizards are one of the best examples of both adaptive radiation and convergent evolution. Populations of lizards on isolated islands diverge to occupy separate ecological niches, mostly in terms of the location within the vegetation where they forage (such as in the crown of trees vs. the trunk vs. underlying shrubs). These divergences in habitat are accompanied by morphological changes primarily related to moving on the substrate diameter they most frequently encounter, with twig ecomorphs having short limbs while trunk ecomorphs have long limbs.

In addition, these patterns repeat on numerous islands, with animals in similar habitats converging on similar body forms repeatedly.^[2] This demonstrates that adaptive radiation can actually be predictable based on habitat encountered, and experimental introductions onto formerly lizard-free islands have proven that Anolis evolution can be predicted.

[edit] Species^[3]

Main article: List of Anolis lizards

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anolis

Wikispecies has information related to: Anolis

^ Anolis Genome Sequencing Project, Broad Institute
^ Losos, J. B., Jackman, T. R., Larson, A., de Queiroz, K., & Rodriguez-Schettino, L. (1998) Contingency and determinism in replicated adaptive radiations of island lizards. Science, 279, 2115-2118.
^ Anolis, The Reptile Database

Losos, J.B. (2009) Lizards in an Evolutionary Tree: Ecology and Adaptive Radiation of Anoles. University of California Press:Berkeley, Ca. [1]

[0] Anolis Genome Sequencing Project, Broad Institute

[1] Losos, J. B., Jackman, T. R., Larson, A., de Queiroz, K., & Rodriguez-Schettino, L. (1998) Contingency and determinism in replicated adaptive radiations of island lizards. Science, 279, 2115-2118.

[2] Anolis, The Reptile Database

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[edit] Ecomorphs

[edit] Species[3]

[edit] References

[edit] Species^[3]