{{short description|Species of reptile}} {{Speciesbox | image = Anolis (123788735).jpeg | image_caption = Male with extended dewlap | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Joglar, R. |author2=Rodriguez, C. |author3=Platenberg, R. |year=2020 |title=''Anolis stratulus'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T75087078A75171881 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T75087078A75171881.en |language=en |access-date=29 March 2021}}</ref> | genus = Anolis | species = stratulus | authority = Cope, 1861 | synonyms = *''Anolis dorsomaculatus'' <small>Reinhardt & Lütken, ''nomen nudum''</small> *''Anolis striatulus'' <small>Cope, 1862, ''lapsus''</small> *''Ctenonotus stratulus'' <small>(Cope, 1862)</small> | synonyms_ref = <ref name=RDB>{{NRDB species |genus=Anolis|species=stratulus |access-date=8 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=Cope1862>{{cite journal |last=Cope |first=Edward Drinker |author-link=Edward Drinker Cope |date=February 1862 |title=Notes and Descriptions of Anoles |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/26312915 |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=209 |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=Reinhardt1862>{{cite journal |last1=Reinhardt |first1=Johannes Theodor |author-link=Johannes Theodor Reinhardt |last2=Lütken |first2=Christian Frederik |author-link2=Christian Frederik Lütken |date=14 February 1862 |title=Bidrag til det vestindiske Öriges og navnligen til de dansk-vestindiske öers Herpetologie |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36020108 |journal=Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra den naturhistoriske Forening i Kjöbenhavn |volume=10 |issue=18 |pages=153–156, 255–257 |language=da |access-date=11 February 2020}}</ref> }}
'''''Anolis stratulus''''' is a moderately-sized species of anole ({{IPAc-en|US|audio=en-us-anole.ogg|ə|ˈ|n|oʊ|.|l|i|}}) (family Dactyloidae) found in Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. It is a gray-colored lizard spotted with brown markings. It is arboreal, usually found positioned on tree bark on branches in the canopies of forest trees, where in some areas of Puerto Rico it can be incredibly abundant, with tens of thousands of the lizards being present per hectare.
It is locally known as the '''''lagartijo manchando''''' in Puerto Rico.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Miranda2000>{{cite journal |last1=Miranda Castro |first1=Leopoldo |last2=Puente Rolón |first2=Alberto R. |last3=Vega Castillo |first3=Sondra |date=May 2000 |title=First List of the Vertebrates of Los Tres Picachos State Forest, Puerto Rico, with Data on Relative Abundance and Altitudinal Distribution |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228823254 |journal=Caribbean Journal of Science |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=117–126 |access-date=7 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=yunque>{{cite web |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/r08/elyunque |title=Barred Anole |last=Mowbray |first=Alan |date=2007 |website=El Yunque National Forest - Nature & Science |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref><ref name=Rios2002>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnnet.upr.edu/ecologia/nsga_web/Herp_web_ss/Species/AS/anolis_stratulus.htm |title=''A. stratulus'' |website=The Herpetofauna of Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico |last=Rios López |first=Neftalí |date=24 May 2002 |publisher=Naval Security Group Activity Sabana Seca |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041124092025/http://www.cnnet.upr.edu/ecologia/nsga_web/Herp_web_ss/Species/AS/anolis_stratulus.htm |archive-date=November 24, 2004 |access-date=March 30, 2006}}</ref> Names which have been coined for it in English are '''spotted anole''',<ref name=RDB/> '''Puerto Rican spotted anole''' (in Puerto Rico),<ref name="Sánchez">{{cite web |url=http://www.kingsnake.com/westindian/metazoa11.html |title=Reptiles II: Anoles - Looking Down on Us |last=Sánchez Muñoz |first=Alejandro J. |website=Father Sanchez's Web Site of West Indian Natural History |publisher=Kingsnake |access-date=1 February 2020}}</ref> '''banded anole''' (in Puerto Rico),<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Miranda2000/> '''saddled anole''',<ref name=Perry1997>{{cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Gad |last2=Lazell |first2=James |date=1997 |title=''Anolis stratulus'' (Saddled Anole) Nectivory |url=https://www.dropbox.com/s/iautacpyy4f9lia/HR%201997.28.3.pgs145-168R.pdf?dl=1 |journal=Herpetological Review |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=150–151 |access-date=11 February 2020}}</ref> '''salmon lizard''',<ref name=yunque/> '''barred anole''',<ref name=yunque/> '''St. Thomas anole'''<ref name=RDB/> or the somewhat of a misnomer '''chameleon''', because it can change color. It is known as the "spotted anole" because of the black markings on its back;<ref name="Sánchez"/> the Spanish word ''manchado'' means as much. There are no salmon in Puerto Rico; the name "salmon lizard" may have been invented for tourists in 2007 by Alan Mowbray, 'interpretive media writer' for the website of El Yunque National Forest,<ref name=yunque/> referring to the trout-like colour pattern of its flanks or the perhaps his interpretation of the color of the skin. The names "saddled anole" and "barred anole" are likely taken from the 1862 description by Edward Drinker Cope, although it is not really true, Cope believed that the lizards were characteristically saddled with brown transverse bars on their back. The name "banded anole" may also refer to that.<ref name=Cope1862/> "St. Thomas anole" is also from Cope; although he was immediately corrected in a 1862 Danish publication, in his original English-language publication he stated the anole was only found on the island of St. Thomas.<ref name=Cope1862/><ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
==Taxonomy== This species of lizard, along with many other reptiles, was first studied by the Danish apothecary Albert Heinrich Riise who in 1838 had moved to town of Taphus (which means 'bar', owing to the amount of rum produced and served there) on Sankt Thomas Island in the Danish West Indies to eventually open a pharmacy and distillery of medicinal rums and bitters.<ref name=Loldrup2017>{{Cite book |last=Loldrup |first=Hans Otto |title=A. H. Riises Apotek på St. Thomas og I Vejle |publisher=Frederiksberg Bogtrykkeri A/S |year=2017 |isbn=978-87-89742-14-4 |location=Copenhagen |pages=144–156}}</ref><ref name=Clague2008>{{Cite book |last=Clague |first=Mark |title=The memoirs of Alton Augustus Adams, Sr.: first black bandmaster of the United States Navy |url=https://archive.org/details/memoirsofaltonau00adam/page/45 |date=2008 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520251311 |pages=45, 70, 71 |oclc=86172958 |url-access=registration}}</ref> Riise, successful in this endeavour, was also extremely interested in the natural history of his surroundings, and by the 1840s had begun to ship ample specimens of plants and animals to Copenhagen, and many also found their way elsewhere throughout Europe and the young United States. In Copenhagen the zoologists Johannes Theodor Reinhardt and Christian Frederik Lütken had begun work on a great monograph, eventually some 200 pages excluding illustrations, on the amphibians and reptiles of the Danish West Indies and the wider Caribbean, much of it based on the extensive collections of Riise. Riise had collected numerous specimens of this lizard from the islands of St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, Vieques, Tortola and Jost van Dyke, which Reinhardt and Lütken had described as ''Anolis dorsomaculatus'', and named as such numerous specimens that had already been distributed to museums throughout Europe and the Americas.<ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
Unfortunately for them however, just before they were set to publish their work, the young American Edward Drinker Cope, an industrious man, hungry for recognition, who had been given a job cataloguing the herpetological collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia,<ref>{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Jane |year=1997 |title=The Bone Sharp: The Life of Edward Drinker Cope |page=21 |publisher=Academy of Natural Sciences |isbn=978-0-910006-53-8}}</ref> had also set upon the Riise specimens (Cope consistently misspells his name as Rüse throughout his article) and rushed to describe the new species for posterity himself, publishing his work a week or two earlier than them, which necessitated a rush of last minute changes to their manuscript in the days before it could be brought to the printers. The rather summary article by Cope is dated to 1861, although it was actually published in the beginning of February 1862, and Reinhardt and Lütken published their work on 14 February 1862, with numerous revisions to accommodate and correct Cope.<ref name=Cope1862/><ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
Cope only published that the species was to be found on Sankt Thomas, not having known or studied the entirety of Riise's collections, and only examining a handful of specimens to be found in nearby US institutions, all of which happened to have been collected on that island.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Cope1862/><ref name=Schwartz1988>{{cite journal |last1=Schwartz |first1=Albert |author-link=Albert Schwartz (zoologist) |last2=Henderson |first2=Robert W. |date=15 January 1988 |title=West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles: A Check-List |url=https://www.mpm.edu/sites/default/files/files%20and%20dox/C%26R/library/bio-geo/%23074%20MPM%20Contributions%20in%20Biology%20and%20Geology%20Number%2074.pdf |journal=Milwaukee Public Museum - Contributions in Biology and Geology |volume=74 |pages=120, 121 |access-date=6 February 2020}}</ref> Cope misspelled, or perhaps the typesetter of the printer, or editor of the journal his description was published in, misspelled, the Latin name as ''striatulus'';<ref name=Cope1862/> this was subsequently corrected by Reinhardt and Lütken.<ref name=Reinhardt1862/><ref name=Schwartz1988/> These two authors also appended some two pages of anatomical corrections and extra details to Cope's original description.<ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
For the next century and a half the taxonomy remained stable and uncontroversial, but in 1986 Craig Guyer and Jay M. Savage attempted to split the very large genus ''Anolis'' based on skeletal, immunology and karyological datasets used together in a type of cladistics method called "successive weighted characters", thus moving most species into a new very large genus called ''Norops''.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Cannatella1989>{{cite journal |last1=Cannatella |first1=David C. |last2=de Queiroz |first2=Kevin |date=1989 |title=Phylogenetic systematics of the anoles: Is a new taxonomy warranted? |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/4633/VZ_1989Canna_deQSZ.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |journal=Systematic Zoology |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=57–69 |doi=10.2307/2992437 |jstor=2992437 |bibcode=1989SysZ...38...57C |access-date=6 February 2020}}</ref> Following Guyer and Savage, Albert Schwartz and Robert W. Henderson reclassified this species as ''Ctenonotus stratulus'' in 1988, moving the species to a new genus advocated by Guyer and Savage in 1986.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Schwartz1988/> Because this splitting caused the new remaining genera to be paraphyletic,<ref name=Cannatella1989/><ref>{{cite book |last=Williams |first=E.E. |date=1989 |title=Biogeography of the West Indies: Past, Present, Future |chapter=A critique of Guyer and Savage (1986): cladistic relationships among anoles (Sauria: Iguanidae): are the data available to reclassify the anoles? |editor1-last=Woods |editor1-first=C.A. |location=Gainesville, Florida |publisher=Sandhill Crane Press |pages=433–477 }}</ref><ref name=Poe2013>{{cite journal |last=Poe |first=Steven |date=13 March 2013 |title=1986 Redux: New genera of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) are unwarranted |url=https://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2013/f/zt03626p299.pdf |journal=Zootaxa |volume=3626 |issue=2 |pages=295–299 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3626.2.7 |pmid=26176139 |issn=1175-5334 |access-date=6 February 2020}}</ref> In 2012 the same authors, Guyer and Savage, together with Kirsten Nicholson and Brian Crother, gave ''Ctenonotus'' another go, although soon after, in 2013, other taxonomists again pointed out flaws in this approach.<ref name=Poe2013/> In 2018 Nicholson ''et al''. again reiterated that the species should be moved to ''Ctenonotus''.<ref name=RDB/>
At least in 2007 the Integrated Taxonomic Information System recognised the species in the genus ''Ctenonotus'',<ref name=yunque/><ref name=ITIS1>{{ITIS |id=564562 |taxon=''Ctenonotus stratulus'' |access-date=2 December 2014}}</ref> but this database recognises it in ''Anolis'' as of 2020.<ref name=ITIS2>{{ITIS |id=173904 |taxon=''Anolis stratulus'' |access-date=7 February 2020}}</ref> The Reptile Database has also maintained recognition of it within the genus ''Anolis'' as of 2020.<ref name=RDB/>
===Higher classification=== ''A. stratulus'' has been classified as a member of a "''cristatellus'' series" along with ''A. acutus'', ''A. cristatellus'', ''A. cooki'', ''A. desechensis'', ''A. ernestwilliamsi'', ''A. evermanni'', ''A. gundlachi'', ''A. krugi'', ''A. monensis'', ''A. poncensis'', ''A. pulchellus'' and ''A. scriptus''; all native to Puerto Rico and neighbouring islands.<!--according to who?--><ref name=Gorgoy2000>{{cite web |url=http://www.homestead.com/Anolis/stratulus.html |title=''Anolis stratulus'' |last=Perez i Gorgoy |first=Lluis |date=2000 |website=Caribbean Anole Database |publisher=Lluis Perez i Gorgoy |access-date=March 31, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060315191347/http://www.homestead.com/Anolis/stratulus.html |archive-date=March 15, 2006}}</ref>
===Etymology=== Cope states that the etymology of the specific epithet, ''stratulus'', which he chose for this lizard in his 1862 description of the species, was derived from the diminutive of the Latin language word ''stratus'', which he states he chose for its meaning of 'saddled' (the word can have many meanings).<ref name=Cope1862/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Charlton T. |last2=Short |first2=Charles |date=1879 |chapter=''Stratus'' |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=stratus&la=la&can=stratus2&prior=stratus#Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:entry=sterno-contents |title=A Latin Dictionary |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |author-link=Charlton T. Lewis |author-link2=Charles Short}}</ref><ref>https://books.google.com/books?id=jO8sAAAAYAAJ&dq=saddle+stratus&pg=RA1-SA2-PA230 "A saddled horse: equus stratus"</ref> Cope chooses the descriptive name 'saddled' because according to him the species has four characteristic dark brown transverse bars across its back, and another across its tail.<ref name=Cope1862/> Cope had access to limited specimens, and perhaps those he examined had these markings, but in the description published by Reinhardt and Lütken, they state that this pattern is often not apparent, especially in specimens where the dark brown spots dominate (their description is more like that below, a number of brown, transverse tracks or bands running down the back, paired with a series of brown spots on its flanks).<ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
==Description== thumb|Individual in Puerto Rico
This species of anole is a small lizard (or moderately-sized for an anole), adults measuring {{convert|40|to|44|mm|abbr=on}} from snout to vent in males,<ref name=yunque/><ref name=Gorgoy2000/> in females to {{convert|46|mm|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Gorgoy2000/>
The male does not have a dorsal crest or tail fin which is common in many of the anole lizards of Puerto Rico. The species' range of color is from gray<ref name=yunque/><ref name=Rios2002/> to brownish gray. It has a pale colored, hour-glass shaped spots from the nape of its neck to its tail, and also has a black, crescent-shaped patch behind the eye.<ref name=yunque/> It has distinct black or darker markings running down the nape of its neck and its back,<ref name="Sánchez"/><ref name=Rios2002/> which are more noticeable on males.<ref name="Sánchez"/> Its flanks are marked with small dark spots.<ref name=yunque/> The throat of this anole has raised brown ridges<ref name=yunque/> and the dewlap color is orange with light yellow scales,<ref name=yunque/><ref name=Gorgoy2000b>{{cite web|url=http://www.homestead.com/anolis/puertolist.html |title=Puerto Rico's Anoles |access-date=March 31, 2006 |last=Perez i Gorgoy |first=Lluis |date=2000 |website=Caribbean Anole Database |publisher=Lluis Perez i Gorgoy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060311095941/http://www.homestead.com/Anolis/puertolist.html |archive-date=March 11, 2006 }}</ref> or "bright orange and yellow toward the margins".<ref name=Rios2002/> The dewlap is rather large.<ref name=Cope1862/> The tail is slightly compressed,<ref name=Cope1862/><ref name=Gorgoy2000/> with the eight or nine vertical rows of weakly keeled scales being arranged in a clearly whorled or verticillate pattern, and the upper margin (edge) of the tail being strongly toothed.<ref name=Gorgoy2000/> The tail measures {{convert|51|to|75|mm|abbr=on}} in length.<ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
In females the dewlap much smaller than it is in the male, and it is colored gray, with some pale orange in the centre near the throat. Unlike in many other anoles, in this species the juveniles have the same coloration and color patterns as do the adults.<ref name=Rios2002/> Reinhardt and Lütken provide a comparison table of anatomical dimensions of the males and females, with the females being slightly smaller in all measured characteristics according to them (although see above).<ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
It has four or five rows of loreal scales. There are zero to one scales between the supraorbital ridges, and one to three scales between the interparietal and supraorbital semicircular area. There are six postrostral scales, six postmental scales, and the subocular scales are in broad contact with the supralabial scales.<!--is this from Cope? see corrections in Reinhardt & Lütken--> The supradigital scales only have a single keel (are unicarinate).<ref name=Gorgoy2000/>
===Similar species=== Juveniles may be confused with those of ''Anolis evermanni'' ''in situ''. Adults of ''A. evermanni'' are emerald green, but the juveniles of this species have the same cryptic coloration as this species. The juveniles of these two species can be distinguished by the colors of the head and neck. These are uniformly gray in this species, but in ''A. evermanni'' are greenish gray.<ref name=Rios2002/>
In his original description of 1862 Cope considered this species to be most similar to ''A. alligator'', based mostly on the shape of the head, which is now in modern times is considered a synonym of ''A. roquet'' and is not considered particularly closely related to this species at all.<ref name=Cope1862/> On the other hand Reinhardt and Lütken find it most similar to the also Puerto Rican ''A. pulchellus'' in its dewlap, and they also compare it to juvenile ''A. cristatellus'', but mention that this species can be distinguished by the darker backsides, and a longer, differently shaped head; both these species are now indeed thought to be closely related to ''A. stratulus''.<ref name=Reinhardt1862/> As with all anoles, the pattern of scales on the head are diagnostic.<ref name=Cope1862/><ref name=Reinhardt1862/>
==Distribution== This species has one of the widest natural distributions of all the anoles of Puerto Rico<ref name=Rios2002/> and this range includes the many islands surrounding it such a Vieques and Culebra.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Reagan1996>{{cite book |last=Reagan |first=D. P. |date=1996 |chapter=The role of amphibians and reptiles in a West Indian rain forest food web |editor1-last=Powell |editor1-first=Robert |editor1-link=Robert Powell |editor2-last=Henderson |editor2-first=Robert W. |editor2-link=species:Robert W. Henderson |title=Contributions to Herpetology, volume 12: Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz |location=Ithaca, New York |publisher=Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles |pages=217–227 }}</ref><ref name=Heatwole1981>{{cite journal |first1=Harold |last1=Heatwole |first2=Richard |last2=Levins |first3=Michael D. |last3=Byer |date=July 1981 |title=Biogeography of the Puerto Rican bank |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40017602 |journal=Atoll Research Bulletin |volume=251 |pages=8, 11, 30, 33 |doi=10.5479/si.00775630.251.1 |bibcode=1981AtRB..251....1H |oclc=45726059 |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref> In Puerto Rico it is commonly found in the Maricao State Forest, the Guánica State Forest,<ref name=Rivero1978>{{cite book |last=Rivero |first=Juan A. |date=1978 |title=Los Anfibios y Reptiles de Puerto Rico |location=San Juan |publisher=Editorial Universitaria, Universidad de Puerto Rico |isbn=9780847723171 |oclc=2137272 |language=es}}</ref> and the Luquillo Mountains.<ref name=Reagan1996/> It has been described as "very common" in Los Tres Picachos State Forest where it is more common than the "common anole", ''Anolis cristatellus''.<ref name=Miranda2000/> It is the most abundant anole at mid-elevations in Puerto Rico.<ref name=Rios2002/> It is less common in the northwestern part of Puerto Rico.<ref name=Schwartz1988/> It is also present in Cayo Santiago (Humacao)<ref name=Heatwole1981/><ref name=Heatwole1963>{{cite journal |last1=Heatwole |first1=Harold |last2=Sade |first2=Donald S. |last3=Hildreth |first3=R. |date=March 1963 |title=Herpetogeography of Puerto Rico I. Herpetofauna of Cayo Santiago and Cayo Batata |url=http://www.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/VOL03/P001-006.PDF |journal=Caribbean Journal of Science |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–5 |issn=0008-6452 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050119085411/http://www.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/VOL03/P001-006.PDF |archive-date=2005-01-19}}</ref> and Isla Piñeros.<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> On the islet of Cayo Santiago and the nearby southern coastal regions of Puerto Rico, such as the city of Ponce, it is also less common than ''A. cristatellus''.<ref name=Heatwole1963/> The barred anole is also found, but to a lesser extent, in the coffee plantations of the barrios of Sabana Grande, Vivi Arriba, and Mameye. It is also seen in the municipality of Utuado, and in the barrios of Cialito and Pozas in Ciales.<ref name=Borkhataria1993>{{cite thesis |last=Borkhataria |first=R. R. |date=1993 |title=Ecological and political implications of conversion from shade to sun coffee in Puerto Rico |type=MS |publisher=North Carolina State University |url=https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/handle/1840.16/288/ |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref>
Outside of Puerto Rico the species can be found in the British Virgin Islands,<ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Rivero1978/> where it has been recorded on Anegada,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Beef Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Fallen Jerusalem Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Ginger Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Great Camanoe,<ref name=Heatwole1981/> Great Thatch,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Guana Island,<ref name="Sánchez"/><ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Jost van Dyke,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Little Jost Van Dyke,<ref name=Heatwole1981/> Little Thatch,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Marina Cay,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Mosquito Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Necker Island,<ref name=Heatwole1981/> Norman Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Peter Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Prickly Pear Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Saba Rock,<ref name=Heatwole1981/> Salt Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Scrub Island,<ref name=Heatwole1981/> Tortola<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> and Virgin Gorda.<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/>
It is a commonly observed animal in the northern United States Virgin Islands, specifically the north side of St. Thomas.<ref name=RDB/><ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref>{{cite report |last1=Platenberg |first1=Renata J. |last2=Hayes |first2=Floyd E. |last3=McNair |first3=Douglas B. |last4=Pierce |first4=J. J. |date=January 2005 |title=A Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy for the U.S. Virgin Islands |url=http://www.vifishandwildlife.com/Wildlife/FinalPlan.htm |publisher=Division of Fish and Wildlife, St. Thomas, University of the Virgin Islands |pages=81–97 |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref> It has furthermore been recorded on Bovoni Cay, Cas Cay,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Congo Cay,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Flanagan Island, Great St. James, Inner Brass, Leduck Island, Little St. James, Lovango Cay, Mingo Cay, Outer Brass, Patricia Cay, Prickly Pear Cay, Saba Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Savana Island,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> St. John,<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> Stephen Cay<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Thatch Cay, Trunk Cay,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> Water Island<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Heatwole1981/> and Whistling Cay.<ref name=Schwartz1988/> It does not occur on the largest island of the territory, Saint Croix to the south.<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Gorgoy2000/><ref name=Heatwole1981/>
==Ecology== ===Habitat=== This lizard is a "trunk-crown ecomorph"<ref name=RDB/><ref name="Sánchez"/><ref name=Borkhataria1993/> (or a "trunk-crown dwarf")<ref name=Gorgoy2000/> arboreal anole that is mostly observed on tree trunks,<ref name=Borkhataria1993/> in the canopies,<ref name="Sánchez"/><ref name=Rios2002/><ref name=Schall2000>{{cite journal |last1=Schall |first1=Jos J. |last2=Pearson |first2=Anja R. |last3=Perkins |first3=Susan L. |date=2000 |title=Prevalence of malaria parasites (''Plasmodium floridense'' and ''Plasmodium azurophilum'') infecting a Puerto Rican lizard (''Anolis gundlachi''): a nine-year study |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12455047 |journal=Journal of Parasitology |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=511–515 |doi=10.2307/3284865 |jstor=3284865 |pmid=10864248 |access-date=8 February 2020}}</ref> and occasionally in grasses.<ref name=Borkhataria1993/> It is most frequently found on trees from {{convert|2|m|ft|abbr=on}} to the canopy, where it seems to be most abundant.<ref name=Rios2002/> The species can be seen in both shaded and sunny areas,<ref name=Borkhataria1993/> although compared to ''A. cristatellus'', where they occur together, it is more often found in shaded areas.<ref name=Heatwole1963/> It is especially common in along roadsides and trails in forests.<ref name=Miranda2000/> It prefers xerophytic and mesophytic environments rather than wet forests with a high level of precipitation.<ref name=Gorgoy2000b/><ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Rivero1978/> This anole has an altitude range from sea level to {{convert|365|m|ft|abbr=on}},<ref name=Schwartz1988/><ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Rivero1978/> although it has been recorded up to {{convert|945|m|ft|abbr=on}} in Los Tres Picachos State Forest,<ref name=Miranda2000/> up to {{convert|1200|ft|m|abbr=on}} northwest of Lares, Puerto Rico,<ref name=Schwartz1988/> or even {{convert|1500|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Gorgoy2000b/>
The anoles of this species which are found in the El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico generally occupy the ''tabonuco'', ''Dacryodes excelsa'', tree canopy, which range from 10 to 20 meters in height from the ground.<ref name=yunque/> Despite their incredibly vast numbers here,<ref name=Reagan1996/> the lizards may be difficult to see for visitors to the forests, because they live high up in the canopy<ref name=yunque/> and are camouflaged.<ref name="Sánchez"/> After hurricanes which may periodically strafe this region and tear down much of the canopy, leaving the forests with mostly upright but completely denuded trees, these lizards are then seen in great abundance because they then live amongst the fallen branches and foliage, which can be up to five meters thick.<ref name=Schall2000/>
On the terrain of the large navy base of Sabana Seca on the northern coast of Puerto Rico (as of 2020 still owned by the navy, but closed in 2003, like almost all of the many large bases the US military used to occupy on the island) this species is abundant in all the forested habitats of the area -the mangrove forests, wooded karst hilltops and valleys, and the high, seasonally semi-flooded ''palo de pollo'' forests of ''Pterocarpus officinalis''.<ref name=Rios2002/>
===Behaviour=== It is oviparous (egg-laying).<ref name=RDB/> It can change color. The color pattern of spots and markings makes it well-camouflaged against the lichen-spotted tree bark on which it commonly resides.<ref name="Sánchez"/> The lizard prefers smaller branches and individuals have a small range, only venturing around a territory of no more than 6 meters for foraging and mating.<ref name=yunque/> This species has a population turnover of 1.4 years.<ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Schall2000/>
It is diurnal. It is not shy, especially the males, and they let humans come quite close -showing their dewlap as an observer approaches.<ref name=Rios2002/>
===Interactions with other species=== {{See also|Anolis ecomorphs}} In some regions, such as El Yunque National Forest, ''A. cristatellus'' occurs together with up to seven other species of anole<ref name=Schall2000/> which are able to occur sympatrically with it because each species occupies a different ecological niche.<ref name="Sánchez"/> In the Los Tres Picachos State Forest it occurs together with ''A. cristatellus'', ''A. cuvieri'', ''A. evermanni'', ''A. gundlachi'', ''A. krugi'', ''A. occultus'' and ''A. pulchellus''.<ref name=Miranda2000/> Besides ''A. pulchellus'', these other seven anoles often occur together throughout Puerto Rico.<ref name="Sánchez"/>
====Diet==== ''A. stratulus'' has a diet consisting of mainly ants,<ref name=yunque/><ref name=Rios2002/> but also consumes other insects such as beetles and flies,<ref name=Rios2002/><ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Rivero1978/> as well as land snails<ref name=Rios2002/> and spiders.<ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Rivero1978/> It has been found to eat more during the rainy season than during the dry season.<ref name=yunque/>
On the Guana Island a male lizard was observed to climb into a flowering ''Pedilanthus tithymaloides'', where for a period of over ten minutes it proceeded to lap up the droplets sweet nectar being extruded from the red flowers of this plant.<ref name=Perry1997/>
====Parasites==== In its native Puerto Rico, individuals of this species may sometimes contract a type of anole malaria, ''Plasmodium azurophilum'', a unicellular eukaryotic parasite that infects both the white and red blood cells of its victims, and which is thought to be contracted from infected mosquitoes. The disease commonly afflicts another anole species which occurs in the same forests, ''A. gundlachi'', with usually around 30% of that species being infected as opposed to under 1% for ''A. stratulus''.<ref name=Schall2000/><ref name=Telford2016>{{cite book|title=Hemoparasites of the Reptilia: Color Atlas and Text |editor=Telford SR |publisher=CRC Press |date=2016 |isbn=9781420080414 |page=20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QPP0yi0Zq3cC&q=Plasmodium+acuminatum&pg=PA20 |access-date=5 June 2016}}</ref>
==Conservation== This is a very common species in many parts of Puerto Rico,<ref name=Miranda2000/> where it may occur at densities of thousands to tens of thousands per acre.<ref name="Sánchez"/> One estimate puts it at 21,500 per hectare<ref name=Reagan1996/><ref name=Schall2000/> (which one website calculated as 46,000 per acre, and then reconverted to 23,000 per hectare).<ref name=yunque/>
The IUCN has not evaluated this species' conservation status.<ref name=GBIF>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/2467412 |title=''Anolis stratulus'' Cope, 1861 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=GBIF Backbone Taxonomy - Checklist dataset |publisher=GBIF Secretariat |doi=10.15468/39omei |access-date=9 February 2020}}</ref>
It has been recorded as present in the following protected areas: *Guánica State Forest, Puerto Rico, USA.<ref name=Rivero1978/> *Reserva Forestal de Maricao, Puerto Rico, USA.<ref name="Sánchez"/> *Los Tres Picachos State Forest, Puerto Rico, USA.<ref name=Miranda2000/> *Virgin Islands National Park, U.S. Virgin Islands, USA.<ref name=Schwartz1988/> *El Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico, USA.<ref name=Rivero1978/>
==See also== {{Portal|Puerto Rico|Biology|Reptiles}}
*List of reptiles of Puerto Rico *List of endemic fauna of Puerto Rico *List of Anolis lizards
== References == {{commons category|Anolis stratulus}} {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q784124}}
S Category:Lizards of the Caribbean Category:Reptiles of Puerto Rico Category:Reptiles of the United States Virgin Islands Category:Reptiles described in 1861 Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope