Anolis oculatus, the Dominica anole, Dominican anole, eyed anole or zandoli, is a species of anole lizard. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Dominica, where it is found in most environments. The species is found in a diverse range of color forms, which one herpetologist once classified as four subspecies, which most other scientists did not recognise because the forms gradually inter-grade with one another. Two later researchers have ...
instead promoted the "ecotypes" concept, hypothesizing the color forms are maintained by the ecological conditions of the surrounding environment, despite being genetically indistinguishable. The morphology of some traits is subject to clinal variation, gradually changing from one side of the island to the other, or from sea level to the hilltops. The ground color ranges from pale tan or yellow to deep green or brown. It also has patterned markings that range from light-colored speckling to complex marbled patterns, and some populations also have large black-ringed "eye" spots on their flanks.The Dominican anole spends much of the time in trees but mainly hunts on the ground. Small insects make up the bulk of its prey, with soft-bodied invertebrates and small vertebrates hunted less frequently. Long-living and late maturing for anoles, the Dominican anole can usually breed from around two to three months of age. Females lay eggs, and breeding can occur at any time of year. Clutches number one or rarely two eggs and are laid under rocks or leaves on the ground. Although presently widespread and common on Dominica, in 2007 some authors opined that it may face competition from A. cristatellus, an anole from Puerto Rico, which was introduced a few years earlier.
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