This alien lizard appears to be expanding its range in California. Black dots on the map indicate some of the areas where it has been found and could be established.
These are just the locations that I know about. There are probably more. If you see a lizard that looks like this living in the wild anywhere in California - one that is not shown on the map above or the county list below - please contact me and send a picture if you can for verification.
Adult found in a Newport Beach, Orange County, backyard. The photographer discovered that this lizard was one of three released in her neighbor's yard. If these lizards survive and breed, they could become established in the neighborhood. That's why it is a bad idea (and against the law) to release non-native reptiles.
Green Anoles, genus Anolis,
have small granular scales.
Habitat
Balboa Park, San Diego County
Green Anoles From Outside California
Adult, Jasper County, Texas
Adult, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Adult, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Adult male displaying distended pink dewlap, Galveston County, Texas
Adult male displaying distended pink dewlap (left) in green phase, and
moments later, in brown phase (right) Galveston County, Texas
Adult male displaying distended pink dewlap, Galveston County, Texas
Adult, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Adult, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
A light-phase green anole tried to catch a fly, but failed, Volusia County, Florida
Adult male, Liberty County, Florida
Adult jumping, Broward County, Florida
Adult, Travis County, Texas
Short Videos
A male green anole in Chambers County Texas displays his pink dewlap.
A male green anole in Chambers County Texas quickly changes his color from green to brown.
A light-phase green anole in Florida tries to catch a fly, but fails.
Description
Size
Adults are usually 3 inches long from snout to vent, and about 5-8 inches including the tail.
Appearance
A small thin lizard with a long head and snout and a long thin tail.
Color and Pattern
Skin color varies: at times it's plain green, plain brown, or mottled green and brown.
Dark streaks or spots may occur, often giving the appearance of a light stripe on the back.
Male/Female Differences
Males can extend a pink dewlap (a pouch on the throat) when trying to attract a female and when displaying their territory. Sometimes the dewlap appears to be orange or red.
Life History and Behavior
Diet and Feeding
Small invertebrates and grasses.
Reproduction
Breeds from April to August or September.
Males pursue females, bobbing up and down and displaying their colorful dewlap.
Females lay several clutches of eggs during the season, totalling about 10.
Eggs are buried in soft soil or compost.
Eggs hatch in 30 - 45 days.
Habitat
This lizard is known from parks and residential yards and gardens, where it adapts well to non-native vegetation.
Geographical Range
Native to southern and southeastern North America, from South and Central Texas to the Florida Keys and north to North Carolina, and the southern parts of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.
Introduced into the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California and probably elsewhere.
Origin of Green Anoles Found In California
Most likely, Green Anoles found in the wild in California were captive lizards that either escaped or were released. Green Anoles are common in pet stores, sold as pets or as food for lizard-eating reptiles. It is also possible that anoles or anole eggs could have been transported in shipments from their native range in Southeast North America. Eggs buried in the soil of potted plants is one possible method of transport. In areas where they have been established for a number of years, the anoles represent offspring of escaped adults. As Green Anoles spread around California, they could be transported from one California location to another.
Documented Populations in California
A population of Green Anoles has been established at the San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park which surrounds the zoo.
In a blog post on October 18th, 2013, the Los Angeles Natural History Museum reported a population of Green anoles in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. They added four specimens from Hancock Park to the museum on October first.
Locations Where Wild Green Anoles Have Been Seen in California
Green Anoles also appear to be established now in other locations and are spreading, mostly around the coastal region of Southern California. Most of the locations on this list have been reported to me since I put up this page in 2013. This species
may or may not be established in all of these areas as it was not determined in every case if there was more than one anole in the area.
There are probably lots more locations I don't know about. I will continue to add locations here and on the map as I hear of them. If you see or hear of any Anoles in a location not on this list, please email me about them.
Kern County
Bakersfield
Los Angeles County
Beverly Hills
Carson
Claremont
Hollywood Hills
Long Beach
Los Angeles - Hancock Park, Palms
Northridge
Palos Verdes Estates
Orange County
Aliso Viejo
Anaheim
Costa Mesa
Cypress
Dana Point
El Camino Real
Fountain Valley
Halecrest
Huntington Beach
Huntington Harbor
Irvine
Laguna Beach
Laguna Hills
Laguna Niguel
Lower Peters Canyon
Mission Viejo
Newport Beach
Santa Ana Heights
Seal Beach
Tustin
Yorba Linda
Westminster
Woodbridge
Riverside County
Menifee
Temecula
San Bernardino County
Chino Hills
San Diego County
Carlsbad
Carmel Valley
Chula Vista
El Cajon
Escondido
Otay Mesa West
Rancho San Diego
San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido
San Diego:
-
Balboa Park, San Diego Zoo, and in the surrounding neighborhood
- Mission Hills
- Mission Valley
- City Heights neighborhood
San Marcos
Poway
Santee
Torrey Pines
Vista
Santa Clara County
San Jose
Ventura County
åThousand Oaks
Notes on Taxonomy
Two subspecies have been recognized: Anolis carolinensis carolinensis Anolis carolinensis seminolus
SSAR Herpetological Circular No. 43, 2017 reports that these subspecies don't follow recent genetics studies and should no longer be recognized. However, it also reports that there is a possibility that A. carolinensis consists of more than one subspecies.
The impact of this invasive species on native California lizards and other wildlife is not well known, however native lizards observed living in proximity with this species might suffer from the extra competition.
"Repeated surveys at other Southern California localities where nonnative Anolis carolinensis, Anolis sagrei, and Podarcis siculus occur have shown displacement of S. occidentalis as nonnative populations expand (Pauly, unpubl. data)."
(Gregory B. Pauly and Patrick D. Gavid.Geographical Distribution Note for Trachylepis quinquetaeniata in Los Angeles County. Herpetological Review 50(1), 2019.)
Taxonomy
Family
Dactyloidae
Anoles
Fitzinger, 1843
Genus
Anolis (Norops)
Anoles
Daudin, 1802
Species
Anolis
carolinensis
(Voigt, 1832)
Original Description
Anolis Daudin, 1803 - Hist. Nat. Rept., Vol. 4, p. 50 Anolis carolinensis (Voigt, 1832) - in Cuvier's Thierreich, Vol. 2, p. 71
Robert Powell, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016.
Conant, Roger, and Joseph T. Collins. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians Eastern and Central North America. Third Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.
Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Lizards, Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Cornell University Press, 1946.
R. D. Bartlett, Patricia P. Bartlett. A Field Guide to Florida Reptiles and Amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company. 1999.
The following conservation status listings for this animal are taken from the November 2020 California "Special Animals List" and the November 2020 "State and Federally Listed Endangered and Threatened Animals of California" list, both of which are produced by multiple agencies and available here: https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Data/CNDDB/Plants-and-Animals. You can check the link to see if there are more recent lists.
If no status is listed here, the animal is not included on either list. This most likely indicates that there are no serious conservation concerns for the animal. To find out more about an animal's status you can go to the NatureServe and IUCN websites to check their rankings.