Data from: A phylogenetic, biogeographic, and taxonomic study of all extant species of Anolis (Squamata; Iguanidae)

Anolis lizards (anoles) are textbook study organisms in evolution and
ecology. Although several topics in evolutionary biology have been
elucidated by the study of anoles, progress in some areas has been
hampered by limited phylogenetic information on this group. Here we
present a phylogenetic analysis of all 379 extant species of Anolis, with
new phylogenetic data for 139 species including new DNA data for 101
species. We use the resulting estimates as a basis for defining anole
clade names under the principles of phylogenetic nomenclature and to
examine the biogeographic history of anoles. Our new taxonomic treatment
achieves the supposed advantages of recent subdivisions of anoles that
employed ranked Linnaean–based nomenclature while avoiding the pitfalls of
those approaches regarding artificial constraints imposed by ranks. Our
biogeographic analyses demonstrate complexity in the dispersal history of
anoles, including multiple crossings of the Isthmus of Panama, two
invasions of the Caribbean, single invasions to Jamaica and Cuba, and a
single evolutionary dispersal from the Caribbean to the mainland that
resulted in substantial anole diversity. Our comprehensive phylogenetic
estimate of anoles should prove useful for rigorous testing of many
comparative evolutionary hypotheses.