01-05-2025
‘Vibrant' creatures — that can change color — are ‘cryptic' new species in Cuba
How can you tell two species apart? You would never confuse a human with a chimpanzee, even with their shared ancestry. A manatee could never be mistaken for an elephant, despite their close relation.
This gets harder, however, when two species look nearly identical on the outside.
Take the anole — a small, neotropical lizard found in the leafy canopy and tops of trees across the Caribbean.
Cuba is the only landmass with multiple species of the Anolis carolinensis subgroup, or green anoles, according to a study published April 24 in the peer-reviewed journal Vertebrate Zoology.
However, when researchers began comparing anoles from the east side of the island to the west, originally thought to belong to the same species, they started noticing some differences, according to the study.
This raised four questions used to determine if two animals are different species.
Are green anoles in Cuba phenotypically distinct? This asks if there are observable differences between anoles in different regions, or if they look exactly the same to the naked eye.'Are any of the Cuban green anoles geographically isolated from one another?' When animals of the same species are separated for long periods of time, their genetics can diverge and become different enough that they can no longer breed, making them individual species.'Are the Cuban green anoles ecologically distinct?' Do the green anoles live in different physical environments that require different behavior or adaptations to survive?'Are the Cuban green anoles distinct lineages?' This brings the comparison down to the genetic level, asking whether researchers can see a divergence in their DNA.
As researchers answered each question, they realized the anoles living on the east side of Cuba met the criteria to be a 'cryptic,' or hidden, new species — Anolis torresfundorai, or the eastern Cuba green anole.
The eastern Cuba green anoles are about 2.5 inches long, with a 'vibrant green body' and 'whitish underside,' according to the study.
'It has a distinct thin median white stripe' with 'dark and wider stripes running along the length of its back,' researchers said.
The scales around their eyelids have a 'bluish tone,' and males can have an additional spot on their shoulders, according to the study.
'As other green anoles it has two color phases, light, where the animals are green, and a dark, where they turn brown,' researchers said.
Green anoles have specialized structures under the skin that allow them to change color under different conditions, the Tuscaloosa News reported. It could be environmental changes like temperature and humidity, hormonal changes or potentially some kind of emotional response, according to the outlet.
'This new species is easily distinguishable from its closest relative in Cuba, A. allisoni in having fewer temporal scales, a higher frontal ridge than the (ridge connecting the eye and nostril), rounded ear opening instead of elongated, and males being completely green in light phase (blue head and torso in most male A. allisoni),' researchers said.
Externally, the eastern Cuba green anole is not 'easily distinguishable' from A. porcatus, a 'more distantly related' species, the study said.
'However, we also found that A. porcatus and (the eastern Cuba green anole) are geographically isolated, genetically divergent and that both species are ecologically distinct from one another and from A. allisoni,' researchers said.
The new species was named after Orlando J. Torres Fundora, an emeritus professor and lifelong scientist studying and conserving Cuban nature, according to the study.
The new species was found in eastern Cuba, an island nation off the southern coast of Florida in the Caribbean Sea.
The research team includes Javier Torres, Dexter Reilly, Claudia Nuñez-Penichet, R. Graham Reynolds and Richard E. Glor.
