Skin sheds as a useful DNA source for lizard conservation

Abstract

Anolis nebulosus (Wiegmann, 1834) is one of the most widely distributed and common Anolis in Mexico, occurring from Chihuahua and Sonora in the north to Guerrero, Morelos, and Puebla to the south (Lemos-Espinal et al. 2013, Kohler et al. 2014). Anolis nebulosus occurs mainly on the ground (Wilson and McCranie 1979) but seasonal, sex, and size variation in habitat use have been observed (Jenssen 1970a, Lister and Aguayo 1992, Ramirez-Bautista and Benabib 2001). Anolis nebulosus feeds primarily on insects, especially termites and orthopterans (Boyd et al. 2007), and in turn may be eaten by other lizards, including Sceloporus melanorhinus (Siliceo-Cantero and Garcia 2013). The growth, body size, and morphology from island and mainland populations in Jalisco, Mexico have been compared (Senczuk et al. 2014, SiliceoCantero and Garcia 2014, Hernandez-Salinas and Ramirez-Bautista in press). Some previous work found no evidence of sexual size dimorphism in A. nebulosus (Fitch 1976), whereas others found that males are larger than females (Jenssen 1970a, Senczuk et al. 2014). Ramirez-Bautista and Vitt (1997) and HernandezSalinas and Ramirez-Bautista (in press) have described the reproduction of this species from Jalisco. In addition, observations on aspects of their natural history, such as body temperature and displays, have been reported (e.g., Jensen 1970b, 1971, Ramirez-Bautista and Benabib 2001).