Anoles in New York City?

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A friend of mine sent me the above for identification.

“Anole” I quickly responded, then followed up with, “where are you?” I was shocked by the answer – in New York City! Turns out this little lizard most likely hatched out of a plant purchased about a month ago and quickly made itself at home the New York City apartment of a Fordham graduate student. Look’s like our good friend Anolis sagrei  to me, but figured I’d put it to the Anole Annals readers to verify.

The plant in question (pictured below) was purchased at a tropical plant store in Manhattan. Is this the beginning of a northeast anole invasion? Probably not. Winters in NYC are likely too cold for any of its hitchhiking friends to survive. But then again, this isn’t the first time an anole has stowed away to the northeast (check out this salad anole featured previously on AA) and Boston is now home to Italian Wall Lizards (Podarcis siculus)… So who knows!

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3 Comments

  1. Unless Trump is right and Global Warming is a myth, it is only a matter of time…. Skip

  2. Stephen White

    When I lived in NYC, I bought plants in the Flower District and they often came with anoles and/or greenhouse frogs.

  3. Carl Livingston

    I bought some tropical plants from a nursery in belvidere, NJ for aterrarium. Shire enough a month or so later, 3 little hatching brown anoles.

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