We redescribe the enigmatic lizard Anolis proboscis based on new material collected on the Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, province of Pichincha, Ecuador. We describe the first females reported for the species, increasing the diagnosis to include sexually dimorphic data; and present new information on characters previously undescribed, such as the cranial helmet and hemipenial morphology. We propose that the nasal appendage is not a homologous apomorphic character among A. proboscis and A. phyllorhinus, thus the A. laevis species-group is not a valid clade. In fact, we suggest that A. proboscis is closely related to species previously classified as "Phenacosaurus "; while A. phyllorhinus is part of the A. punctatus species-group. We provide new information on the distribution and natural history of A. proboscis; suggesting that it should be classified under the IUCN category and criteria of "Endangered EN B1ab (i,ii,ii) +2ab (i,ii,iii)". We propose A. proboscis as an emblematic species of the Distrito Metropolitano de Quito, in particular for the conservation of Las Tolas and Lloa-Mindo regions.
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