As I do like reading about field trips or merely observations from vacations where anoles have been spotted, I thought I would share my observations made in Jamaica.  Following the disastrous effects of the Hurricane season in 2025, I'd like to raise some awareness for this beautiful island. In Mach 2024 I was fortunate to travel to Port Antonio, Jamaica for a 7 day field trip with anoles being the main target.

Read all about it!  Abstract: Courtship and mating events in Mexican Anolis species have been reported mainly in captive conditions. Herein, we report a field observation of the mating behaviour of A. quercorum on a coffee plant, in the Sierra Madre del Sur, Oaxaca. Neck biting by the male, positioning on the female, head waving, copulation/intromission, as well as dislodging and retreat behaviours were observed in the wild.

Long time AA stalwart Pat Shipman writes: Just a random observation of anoles in my North Carolina. I believe all to be A. carolinensis as might be expected. For the first time since I moved here, I came upon two individuals mating. They had turned chocolate brown instead of their usual leaf green. I didn't disturb them & couldn't get to my camera fast enough to take a photo.

I received a copy of Steven Poe’s "guide" to the mainland anoles. The book includes summaries of 240 species, copious photographs, range maps, and chapters on anole biology and identifying and catching anoles. The 400+ page tome is not entirely devoid of value. Many of the photos are excellent, the maps are useful, and the book's thickness encourages functionality as a step stool (although its heft precludes frequent usage in this capacity).

Reader Gary Owen Dick writes from xxx: Took some pics the other day of a female green anole shedding.  What intrigues me is the blue coloration on the inner side of the backlit pieces of the loose stratum corneum seen at these angles.  Is this a structural thing, or a camera illusion?

Species invasions are usually studied one at a time, but ecosystems rarely have that luxury. This project began with a simple frustration: while reading about invasive predators, invasive competitors, and pollinator declines, I kept noticing that these processes were usually treated separately—even though accelerating global trade is increasingly causing ecosystems to experience multiple invasions simultaneously. This is especially true on islands, which are highly connected through the constant movement of goods and supplies.

From the pages of  Tuscaloosa News: You've likely seen this common lizard. Why it changes color | ECOVIEWS Whit Gibbons Contributor May 1, 2026, 3:45 a.m. CT One of the most commonly seen lizards in the Southern states is the green anole, also known as the North American green anole or Carolina anole. (Its scientific name is Anolis carolinensis.) Although more than 400 species of anoles are known to science, the green anole is the only one native to the United States.

For those of you fascinated by animal behaviour—of your pets, backyard visitors and other wildlife, or perhaps anoles in particular—the non-fiction graphic novel Understanding Animal Behaviour is for you. And it’s free—all 175 pages of it. Learn everything there is to know about the science of animal behaviour. Find out more about how Anolis lizards have cracked open the way natural selection works in nature.

New model organism t-shirts available from the Society for Developmental Biology.

AA reader Steve Hopman writes: My question is on genetics of the "Red Chili Pepper" anole being sold on Underground Reptiles. Are they A. sagrei or a cross with another species? How is the red transferred to offspring? Dominant or recessive trait or ?.

From the pages of Vanguard, the student newspaper of the University of North Georgia: The Green Anole is Back in Georgia Riley Hansen, Staff Writer • April 9, 2026 With spring weather on the rise, green anoles, a small lizard species native to the southern portion of the United States, are returning to Georgia in large numbers.  Anolis Carolinensis…

Mashpi Chocolate sustainability farms chocolate to help preserve nature in Ecuador. And anoles are doing their part. As they say on their website: "All the ingredients we use in Mashpi Chocolate are grown in an agroecological and regenerative way, next to cocoa trees and within edible forests....We created this chocolate to preserve a native forest reserve, restore degraded areas and generate opportunities in the magical territory of the Andean Chocó....The beauty of coffee is that it is planted under the shade of other trees, providing a habitat for many other species.

Al igual que cuando era estudiante de pregrado, me demoré un buen rato en decidir qué hacer para mi tesis doctoral, ya que tuve que replantear la mayor parte debido a la pandemia de COVID. Meses antes de mi propuesta, encontré un artículo muy interesante de alguien de mi ciudad natal (Cali), Julián A. Velasco (Velasco et al. 2020…

Anolis has long enjoyed being the most speciose genus of reptiles with currently 435 described species (unless you subscribe to the generic split crowd supporting Dactyloa and such, of course). There was not even a close contender. That is changing rapidly with the unabated description of new species of Cyrtodactylus -- more than 300 new species since 2000 and more than 100 since 2020!

This all started with an innocent query: how long has Anole Annals been around? This led to a series of questions answered--for the most part accurately--by chapgpt. Unfortunately, the links didn't copy, but if you want to go to the posts mentioned below, look at Chatgpt's transcript of our conversation. So with that, here goes: when did Anole Annals debut?

Much like when I was an undergrad, I found myself trying to decide what to do for my PhD thesis, as I had to change or rethink most of it after COVID happened. Months before my proposal, I came across a really cool paper by someone from my hometown (Cali), Julian A. Velasco (Velasco et al. 2020). In this paper, Velasco and colleagues addressed two questions: first, whether common ideas about heat and food availability explain why animal sizes vary geographically; and second, how fast those sizes changed as the planet cooled over the last 66 million years.

There are a lot of classic studies on anoles. Some of the most groundbreaking started from a simple observation and someone’s curiosity. Judy Stamps seems to have had lots of these “huh…” moments. Her studies on anole behavior are extensive, and there are many classics to pick from. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 8 in the non-fiction graphic novel Understanding Animal Behaviour…

from the Wildlife Society: Florida towns facilitate spread of knight anoles March 2, 2026 News, Wildlife News by Joshua Rapp Learn Giant Cuban anoles have found footholds in habitats across Florida thanks to expanding human development over the past decades. But it’s unclear whether the reptiles can push into Georgia or if the introduced reptiles may be near the edge of their potential range.

Left: gold dust day gecko handling a spider in the vegetation. Center: green anole handling a moth. Right: brown anole surveying the ground. Or, "Prey depletion by a predator guild suggests spatial differences in competitive ability, but not prey partitioning, consistent with functional trade‐offs." Anole biologists may take for granted that anoles compete. We have plenty of evidence, after all, for the…

Ecuador is one of the most biodiversity-rich and unique locations in the world - especially for herps. Currently, there are 207 species of lizards there, 41 of which are some of the most spectacular anole species around (Arteaga 2025). As a herp wildlife photographer and an employee of the Khamai Foundation, I have had many chances to encounter and document some of these incredible animals.

The rediscovery of Anolis laevis is one of those stories that seem written to remind us why biological exploration remains indispensable. Described in 1876 from a single specimen, holotype ANSP 11368, and then lost to science for a century and a half, this small anole with a strange proboscis on its snout became a myth of the montane forests of northeastern Peru.

As well exemplified by a significant fraction of anole research, islands can act as natural laboratories of evolution. With limited space, fewer predators, simplified communities, and isolation from the mainland, islands often impose strong and distinctive selective pressures relative to continental habitats. However, although anoles provide some of the most famous examples of evolution on islands, insularity can exert its effects on different types of organisms.

Like anoles, geckos are famous for their adhesive toepads, enabling astonishing climbing abilities. Since adhesive toepads evolved independently in geckos and anoles, these two rather distantly related lizard clades have become the poster-children of convergent evolution in climbing. But, astonishingly, how such a complex system actually evolves has until recently garnered little attention. And while anoles have long been celebrated for their sticky pads, the literature tends to treat the spectacular adhesive system in a binary fashion as either being present (full pads) or absent (pad‑less) in geckos– despite the fact that earlier research already indicated that this might not be the case.

Happy ending: they both lived to see another day thanks to the screen between them! Thanks to Miriam Lipsky for the photo from Miami.

JUST PUBLISHED: Understanding Animal Behaviour is a non-fiction graphic novel featuring anoles and other lizards. This isn’t a kid's book or comic. It is written for adult readers interested in understanding why animals do what they do and how researchers go about studying behaviour. And its FREE. Here’s a taster from Chapter 4 on the challenges anoles face when trying to advertise territory ownership in natural environments.

Ok, not actually breaking news--occurred almost eight years ago, but somehow word never reached Anole Annals. People magazine tells the story: Published on April 21, 2018 12:55PM EDT Nearly three years after taking over The Late Show from David Letterman, Stephen Colbert finally welcomed the first animal expert back on the CBS program, Friday. But… he might regret that decision.

Tulane University reports: Study: Invasive lizards’ tempers flare with the heat Stacey Plaisance splaisance@tulane.edu 

from the pages of Rhody Today: URI’s Jason Kolbe studying hurricanes as a source of episodic natural selection Storm study shows adaptive selection in southeast lizards A new study led by URI’s Jason Kolbe examines adaptive selection in Anolis lizards in the southeastern U.S. (Photos / J. Kolbe) KINGSTON, R.I. – Dec. 11, 2025 – How do intermittent events like hurricanes impact natural selection?

We’ve long known that some lizards change color for camouflage or communication, but our new research reveals their skin may also act as a dynamic thermal regulator. Our study published in Animals explores how the green anole (Anolis carolinensis) adjusts its skin color and reflectance in response to short-term temperature changes, offering fresh insights into how ectotherms adapt to their environment.

Sleep is one of the most fundamental states for animals, including humans and wildlife. When people travel to unfamiliar places, one of their first concerns is often where they will sleep that night — at least it is for me. Lizards may face a similar challenge. Like other diurnal Anolis lizard species, green anoles (Anolis carolinensis) are active during the day and rest at night.

And who could blame the little green lady--star fruit are delicious! Miriam Lipsky of Miami explains: "The star fruits (carambola) are indeed from my yard!  I was picking them to give to a friend, since no one in my family really likes them (Editor's note: hard as that is to believe!), and when I reached for one of them, this cute anole came with it, then refused to leave the basket."

The Cuban knight anole (Anolis equestris) was intentionally introduced to South Florida in the 1950s. Since then, they have spread along the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, into southwest Florida, and into the Florida Keys. Currently, these anoles have been documented in 23 Florida counties, including Central Florida and along the Space Coast. In fact, the northernmost observations for this species occur in St.

On December 4, 2025 I observed an Anolis (probably A. sagrei) preying upon an adult or subadult ringneck snake (Diadophis punctatus) in a relictual hardwood hammock forest in Miami, Florida, USA. The lizard was in a vertical head-down position on a narrow tree trunk approximately 2 m above ground, and had the snake’s head in its jaws. Unfortunately, as I photographed the encounter, the anole became disturbed and released the snake, so I was unable to confirm whether the lizard would have been successful at killing and consuming the rather substantial prey item.

Like in Anolis lizards, the evolution of adhesive toepads in geckos is often seen as a key innovation, allowing these lizards to exploit vertical environments. Gecko toepads are among the most advanced in the animal kingdom – inspiring research in biomimetics and synthetic adhesion for years. Yet, while the physics of sticking has been studied extensively, the ecology and biogeography have not.

Dewlaps—the extensible throat ornaments of anoles—are classically viewed as male secondary sexual traits used in mate attraction and rival assessment. However, many species exhibit fully developed female dewlaps, and in numerous cases, male and female dewlaps differ in coloration (see some great photos and info in past Anole Annals posts here, here, here, and here! The last post actually inspired Dr.

From the Pages of Syracuse University Today: Diane Stirling Nov. 21, 2025 Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes How geckos and anoles use sticky toepads and claws to run, climb and jump is providing clues for innovations to help humans, and is also aiding in efforts to conserve the animals' species. Through millions of years of evolution, geckos and anoles have developed curved claws and sticky toepads that make them expert climbers.

Across the Anolis genus, color and color change are used in a variety of ways, from camouflage to signaling. While many studies have focused on male coloration, few have explored the more subtle females and the role that their coloration may play. We sought to continue to understand the role of rapid color change in Anolis aquaticus (the water anole). Previous work within the species has discovered that…

Inbar Mayaan writes: As you know, Jamaica was very badly hit by Hurricane Melissa. It made landfall in the southwest part of the island and cut across through to the north central coast before continuing northward. Images and videos are circulating that just begin to show the extent of the damage, but everyone says it’s just unfathomable. Kathryn Miller, one of the excellent Jamaican students who has been on my field team and contributed meaningfully to anole research in Jamaica, was finally able to travel out to help her mother in Santa Cruz, in the parish of St.

 Prologue Nearly 1500 posts. Over 300 contributors. Worldwide readership. Since its origin 15 years ago, Anole Annals has left its mark on anole researchers, reptile enthusiasts, and people curious about why these little tree lizards enchant so many of us. (Just go ahead and admit that’s a fair question!) Many posts on this blog create engaging summaries of the newest anole research, research that spans nearly every discipline of biology.

Invasive species are a growing problem across our increasingly globalized planet. They are often adept at establishing stable population sizes very quickly, which allows them to outcompete native species for access to important ecological resources and expand their range. You’re on the Anole Annals, so you’re probably familiar with the poster child for invasive lizards, the brown anole (Anolis sagrei…

Anolis sagrei (brown anole, Figure 1) is a small species, native from Cuba, that invaded Florida around 1800. Me, I am from Brazil, and this is the story of how I made some interesting discoveries about the brown anoles during my brief invasion to the US. My journey in the herp world began by studying the South American lizard genus Tropidurus (Figure 2).

Green anoles (Anolis carolinensis), also described as the American chameleon, can change between brown and green coloration at will in a process known as physiological color change. Deciphering the adaptive purpose of this ability has captured scientists for over a century, with three major hypotheses dominating research: camouflage, social signaling, and thermoregulation. Social signaling is the most well-supported explanation in recent literature, while camouflage has lacked evidence.

Over the past several years, semi-aquatic anoles experienced a bit of viral fame for “scuba diving," a nickname for their ability to rebreathe a bubble of air over their nostrils while diving underwater. Rebreathing allows anoles to remain underwater for a long time and theoretically escape their terrestrial or aerial predators. My collaborators and I have clocked rebreathing semi-aquatic anole dive times of about 20 minutes, though -- who knows – it may even be longer!

Galveston reader A.J. Watkins writes in: I am in Galveston Texas, and I am literally in tears. Being a Port city, we have been invaded by the Cuban anoles that have obviously come in off the shipping boats. All I can say is they have caused complete devastation to SO MANY native species here on the island. Where once I had assassin bugs calore in my yard, as I never use pesticides, I also hardly ever had any issues with plant pest bugs, as the assassin bugs ( I called them my garden army) would take care of the aphids, white flies, mealy bugs, etc.

Yes, the brown (aka, festive) anole is at it again. Now it's turned up on the island of Bioko in the Gulf of Guinea. As Malanza et al. report in Herpetological Notes, this is the second introduction of the species to Africa, the first occurring in Angola.

Reader Gary Dick tells us: I encountered the hatchling pictured about 10 years ago on my patio.  Part of a small population in my specific area.  Best I can tell, it was achromic Green anole.  What do you think? A little additional info about this lizard:  it’s from a population I established  in my yard about 25 years ago north of Dallas Texas over a period of ten or so years. 

Christopher Brown on his blog Field Notes writes: "We may never acquire the gift evidenced by this anole I saw on our retaining wall last weekend: the ability to regenerate large portions of one’s own body after an accident or an encounter with a predator. I was grilling dinner when I saw it, and had to raise my glass in admiration.

Some green anoles sometimes temporarily develop a black spot behind their eyes. We had a great post on why this happens in 2011. Spoiler: it's a sign of stress. Reader Seth Whaland has provided interesting observations: In August of this year, I was on the Butler Hike & Bike Trail along Lady Bird Lake in Austin, TX. I was walking along the trail with a new point-and-shoot 35mm camera when I spotted two anoles.

Tulane University reports: Lead-resistant lizards in New Orleans could hold clues to combating lead poisoning August 20, 2025 9:00 AM Stacey Plaisance splaisance@tulane.edu

Although I have not been a prolific poster on AA, I have enjoyed contributing articles about the obscure and rarely seen anoles of the Greater Antilles and Lucayan archipelagos, such as Anolis ernestwilliamsi, Anolis fairchildi (1,2,3), and Anolis scripts (1,2,3,4,5). Here is another post in that series, focused on…