NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Bark anole
Anolis distichus Cope, 1861
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Anolis distichus on tree
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Open encyclopedia reference
Anolis distichus, the bark anole, North Caribbean bark anole, or Hispaniolan gracile anole, is a species of anole lizard (US: ) native to Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and the Bahamas, and introduced to Florida, where it was first recorded in 1946. It spends most its time on tree trunks. There are several subspecies and it is highly variable in color. Its body ranges from gray-brown to green, and the dewlap is cream-white, over yellow and orange to red. In Florida, most are gray-brown with a cream-white (pale yellow) dewlap, but more greenish individuals with a yellow-edged red dewlap also occur. It is a fairly small anole, reaching up to 12.7 cm (5.0 in) in length.
Wikipedia contributors, Anolis distichus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:05:18.864707+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anolis distichus Cope, 1861
- Name authority
- Cope, 1861
- Common name
- Bark anole
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Anolidae
- Genus
- Anolis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyAnolidae
- genusAnolis
- speciesAnolis distichus Cope, 1861
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Anolis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Blue-lipped forest anoleAnolis bombiceps Cope, 1875 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Branch AnoleAnolis birama Garrido, 1990 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hummelinck's AnoleAnolis blanquillanus Hummelinck, 1940 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cuban Variegated AnoleAnolis bremeri Barbour, 1914 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ayala's AnoleAnolis calimae Ayala, Harris & Williams, 1983 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anolis anatoloros Ugueto, Rivas, Barros, Sánchez-Pacheco & García-Pérez, 2007 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Chiapas Ornate AnoleAnolis anisolepis Smith, Burley & Fritts, 1968 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bay Islands AnoleAnolis bicaorum (Köhler, 1996) | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Boulenger's AnoleAnolis apollinaris Boulenger, 1919 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Panther AnoleAnolis bimaculatus (Sparrman, 1784) | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Giant Green AnoleAnolis biporcatus (Wiegmann, 1834) | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Odd AnoleAnolis dissimilis Williams, 1965 | AnolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Anolis dominicensis juliae Cochran, 1934 Cochran, 1934 | synonym |
| Anolis distichoides Rosen, 1911 Rosen, 1911 | synonym |
| Anolis dominicensis Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862 Reinhardt & Lütken, 1862 | synonym |
| Anolis distichus albogularis Mertens, 1939 Mertens, 1939 | synonym |
| Anolis citrinellus Cope, 1864 Cope, 1864 | synonym |
| Anolis biauritus Meerwarth, 1901 Meerwarth, 1901 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Anolis&species=distichus Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:675MD. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.