Anolis laevis Cope 1876

Smooth anole, Swordsman anole

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonyms: Scytomycterus laevis Cope, 1876; Dactyloa laevis (Cope, 1876)

 

Conservation Status

Last record: 1800's (Perez & Lehr, 2019)

Rediscovered in: 2008 (specimen); 2018 (confirmation) (Ayala-Varela et al., 2026)

 

Distribution & Habitat

Peru

 

Anatomy & Morphology

 

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

Holotype: ANSP 11368

 

Media

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Cope, E. D. (1876). Report on the Reptiles brought by Professor James Orton from the middle and upper Amazon and western Peru. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia N.S. 8(2): 159-183. [2(8)?]

 

Other references:

Ayala-Varela, Fernando, Venegas, Pablo J., García-Ayachi, Luis Alberto and Poe, Steven. (2026). Mythic lizard rediscovered: redescription of Anolis laevis Cope 1876 (Squamata: Anolidae) from recent collections in Peru. Zootaxa 5752(4): 516-530. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5752.4.4

Perez, J. and Lehr, E. (2019). Anolis laevis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T48279785A48279799. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T48279785A48279799.en. Accessed on 14 February 2026.

Peters, J. A. and Donoso-Barros, R. (1970). Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata. Part II. Lizards and amphisbaenians. Bulletin of the Smithsonian Institute 297: 1-293.

Williams, E. (1979). South American anoles: the species groups. 2. The proboscis anoles (Anolis laevis group). Breviora 449: 1-19.

 

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