Anolis occultus
species of reptile
The Puerto Rican twig anole or dwarf anole (Anolis occultus) is a species of small, arboreal anole endemic to Puerto Rico and primarily inhabiting the Cordillera Central from the Sierra de Cayey range in the Southeast to the central-western ranges of Maricao. A mostly grey to olive-brown bodied lizard, A. occultus is the smallest of the Puerto Rican anoles with a snout to vent length of 34–42 mm. In comparison to other twig anoles, A. occultus is extremely cryptic through its unique sleeping behaviors and mottled pattern. Sleeping behavior including site selection minimizes the probability of predator encounter along with A. occultus' extensive list of antipredator behaviors.
Phylogeny
In Puerto Rico, Anolis is represented by 10 separate species. All share adaptations to live primarily arboreal, diurnal lives, while being insectivorous. In comparison to all other Puerto Rican anoles, A. occultus is smaller in size and has a smaller, elongated head. The scales of the head are much smaller in this lizard. The dewlap is also sparsely scaled laterally and tucks under the heavily scaled skin of the throat, which is unique to this species. The mostly closely related lizards by similarity in features include A. fuscoauratus, A. Chloris, and A maculiventris.
The public source identifies “Anolis occultus” as species of reptile. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Anolis, occultus and species.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Anolis occultus”, the useful work is to connect “species of reptile” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2591069. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Anolis occultus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.