Green Anoles on Tall Grass in Florida Swamps

The Florida green anole, Anolis carolinensis, is a trunk-crown anole, usually seen on trees, often high up. So, what’s it doing on grasses low down? Alberto Estrada, an expert on Cuban lizards, reports the following:

It caught my attention to observe several specimens of A. carolinensis (smaller than the one in the photo above) posted on the spikes of the tall grass spikes on the lake shore at Miramar Pineland Park near Pembroke Pines, Broward, FL (25.97 ° N, -80.25W °). In my experience in Cuba with his close relatives A. porcatus and A. allisoni, I do not remember having seen them in such situations. They reminded me of the typical grass anoles such as A. pulchellus from Puerto Rico. As much as I searched, I did not find adults. In Tree Tops Park (26.07ºN, -80.28°W), if I have seen adults on the planks of the platform in the swamp and I have seen juveniles or subadults like the one the photo below in the reeds and on grasses that stand out from the water. I lived and worked for many years in the Ciénaga de Zapata, I had many experiences in marshy environments in the keys that surround Cuba, and I do not remember a single case of seeing the green anoles of Cuba in the same situation. Interesting experience!

In turn, this reminds me of observations I made of Anolis allisoni on Roatan, as evident in the photo below:

Caption from original post: You thought I was kidding about the Roatan allisoni doing their best grass anole imitation? See how many you find in this photo. There are at least five, but maybe I missed some.

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Jonathan Losos

Professor of Biology and Director of the Living Earth Collaborative at Washington University in Saint Louis. I've spent my entire professional career studying anoles and have discovered that the more I learn about anoles, the more I realize I don't know.

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