Green Anole

Anolis carolinensis

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about green anoles. Now just to be clear we’re specifically discussing the Carolina green anole which is a single anole species. Technically there are other green anoles, but the Carolina green anole is the only one natively found in the contiguous United States. These lizards live in the south eastern US, though in Florida they’ve almost been entirely replaced by the introduced brown anole; also green anoles themselves have been introduced outside of their native range to places like Hawaii, Cuba, Guam, and Japan where their presence has had wide ranging consequences. Coming back to their names, sometimes their common name is pronounced “anole” and sometimes it’s pronounced as “anole”. From what we gathered, it’s more appropriate to say “anole” but the other pronunciation is becoming more and more widespread - though we’ve run into people confusing the pronunciation of “anole” as another similar sounding word; we’ll stick with “anole” so it doesn’t sound like we’re talking about butthole lizards!

Anoles are generally described as arboreal creatures because they spend a lot of their time in trees. They can typically be seen clinging to a tree’s bark somewhere between the ground and branches, but in urban settings green anoles may even be spotted on fences, porches, and rooftops. These lizards are diurnal meaning they’re most active during the day. They may be soaking up the sunlight to get warm or they may be seeking out a meal. Green anoles are active eaters and will try to eat anything smaller than their heads. To be fair, their heads aren’t that big.

Lizards are measured from their snouts to the base of their tails because many of them, green anoles included, can autotomize, or drop, their tails in self defense. So while green anoles on average reach just over six inches (15cm) in length their tails might be up to twice that long! Green anoles eat spiders, beetles, flies, molluscs and all kinds of other invertebrates! Anoles may sit and wait for a meal to pass by or actively seek something out by jumping on a victim. These lizards are quite agile and they have their fancy feet to thank for this.

Like geckos, anoles have pads on their feet that help them grip even to flat surfaces. So these lizards are able to climb straight up most vertical structures. When green anoles aren’t seeking out food, during the warmer parts of the year, usually from March to September, they may be looking for mates. Green anole males come equipped with a dewlap. It’s a pouch on their necks they can extend to show dominance to any nearby males. Female green anoles can have a dewlap, but it’s usually nowhere near as developed as the male’s. The male’s will also extend their dewlaps and bob their heads to entice females.

If a female is receptive, they’ll mate. She’s able to storm sperm for later and every week or two she’ll lay one or two eggs in a nest in moist soil or rotten wood. She’ll do this multiple times per year laying more than a dozen eggs throughout the warm months. The eggs will incubate in their nests for five to seven weeks weeks until they hatch. The baby green anoles are on their own and have to watch out for snakes, birds, other lizards, spiders, frogs, and even cats! If they can avoid these animals, green anoles may live to be five years old or older!

Green anoles aren’t always green. They’re able to quickly change from green to brown. This, along with their ability to move their eyes independently of one another has given rise to their other common name: the American chameleon. Of course, green anoles aren’t actually chameleons, heck, they’re more closely related to iguanas, and their color changing abilities don’t quite match up with the real thing, but these lizards can change color to indicate excitement, stress, or even their body temperatures.

For more facts on green anoles check out the links in the description. Thank you to Jack for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.