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Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Anolidae  
Bark Anole
Anolis distichus Cope, 1861
AH-NOH-lis — DIS-tih-kus
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SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Beckles (2020, Ph.D. dissertation. University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida) found that some A. distichus mtDNA haplotypes from Florida are highly similar to Hispaniolan haplotypes, while others, although most similar to Bahamian haplotypes, are divergent from them. These findings suggest an older, possibly natural, colonization of Florida from the Bahamas, which bears on the potential natural occurrence of the species in Florida and the status of the proposed Florida subspecies (see de Queiroz et al., 2017, SSAR Herpetological Circular 43: 39), as well as a more recent introduction from Hispaniola. (de Queiroz, Kevin and Lauren M. Chan. 2025. Squamata (excluding snakes) – Lizards. Pages 23-37 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

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Occurrences:; 12,601 Total; 8,561 Museum; 4,040 Other

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Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its double tail crest or scale rows.
Anolis — Possibly derived from a Caribbean (Taíno or Carib) word for lizards, standardized into Linnaean Latin.
distichus — Greek dis = “two” + stichos = “row” — refers to paired or double rows of dorsal scales.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Yellow-throated Anolis (Anolis distichus: Schmidt, Karl P. 1953. A Check List of North American Amphibians and Reptiles. 6th Edition. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. 280pp.); North Caribbean Bark Anole (Anolis distichus: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);


Selected References:
1861 Cope, Edward D. Notes and descriptions of anoles. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 13:208-215
1986 Guyer, Craig and Jay M. Savage. Cladistic relationships among anoles (Sauria: Iguanidae). Systematic Zoology 35(4):509-531
1989 Cannatella, David C. and Kevin de Queiroz. Phylogenetic systematics of the Anoles: Is a new taxonomy warranted? Systematic Zoology 38(1):57-69
2019 Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53
2020 Beckles, Winter A. C. Adaptive divergence across variable signaling environments mediates dignal diversity in the Hispaniola Bark Anole, Anolis distichus. Dissertation. University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida. 116pp.

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