Kansas Herpetofaunal Atlas

An adult from Orleans Parish, Louisiana. © Travis W. Taggart.

Green Anole
Anolis carolinensis (Voigt 1832)
ā-nō-lĭs — kă-rə-līn-ĭn-sĭs

Conservation Status:
State: None
Federal: None
NatureServe State: SNA - Not Applicable
NatureServe National: N5 - Secure
NatureServe Global: G5 - Secure
CITES: None

Diagnosis:
Green Anoles are typically from 4 to 8 cm in length. Females typically are smaller in all body size Both males and females have long tails that account for more than half of their total body lengths.
Green Anoles range from shades of brown to green or gray. At times their coloring represents combinations of these colors. Green Anoles are capable of changing scale color in response to their external environment. Many factors affect color change and variation; most often it is dependent upon temperature and excitation, such as increased activity or competition. Darker brown and black colorss, typically signal cold or stressed conditions.
Physical differences also are common between males and females. Females often have a line that runs along their dorsal surface, from their neck down to their back, ending before their tail begins. Most males have pinkish/red dewlaps that extend from the ventral side of their neck. Females rarely exhibit dewlaps.

Distribution:
Known from specimens collected in Leavenworth (Brumwell, 1942; Brumwell, 1951) and Miami counties. These undoubtedly represent escaped captives. This species has not establish viable populations in Kansas, however Brumwell, 1942 points out that the 15 specimens observed in Leavenworth County in July of 1940, were released from captives (origin of North Carolina) in the summer of 1938. Green Anoles are native to much of the southeastern United States, extending from North Carolina, south through Florida, west to south Texas, and north to southeastern Oklahoma.
The Green Anole has been introduced and established outside it's native range. It has become abundant in Hawaii since it was discovered in 1950. It also has been introduced and has flourished in the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, and in Cuba, the Bahamas, and Guam. There are no known extant populations north of 36° N.

(, Museum Voucher) (, Observation) (, Literature Record) (, iNat Record), ( Fossil)
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Full range depicted by light shaded red area. Export Google Earth (.kml)

Occurrence Summary:
4
Records
4
Museum Vouchers
0
Other Observations

Some county occurrences indicated below may be too imprecise to map above.
County Breakdown: County Name (# occurrences):
Johnson (1); Leavenworth (1); Miami (1); Unknown (1);

Fossil History:
Not known from Kansas.

Natural History:
The Green Anole is a primarily arboreal lizard. It is found most often on shaded tree and shrub branches. They also are frequently observed in tall grasses. They are also one of the most common lizards in urban and suburban areas. It is frequently found near dwellings, particularly on fences and the sides of buildings.

Occurrence Activity:
Number of Unique Obervations (=days): 3; Range: 17 Jul to 02 Nov

Remarks:
It is doubtful that the Leavenworth 'persists'. However, it is a common pet and gets released or escapes frequestly.

Bibliography:

1942	Brumwell, Malcolm J. Establishment of Anolis carolinensis in Kansas Copeia 1942(1):54
1950	Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publication (2):336 The first modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table and text say 97 on p. 10) and 13 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies.
1951	Brumwell, Malcolm J. An ecological survey of the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation American Midland Naturalist 45(1):187-231 Published posthumously. Lieutenant Brumwell died December 14, 1941, as a result of injuries incurred during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This paper is a condensed version of his thesis for the Master's degree.
1956	Smith, Hobart M. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of Kansas. Second edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication (9):1-356 Hobart M. Smith's updated second edition of his first (1950) modern herpetology of Kansas. Includes locality dot maps within individual species accounts. Reports 96 species from Kansas (table says 97 on p. 10; text says 98 on p. 10) and 11 "probable but unverified" species and subspecies. The second edition has updated taxonomy, added Plestiodon laticeps, and removed Eurycea tynerensis.
1965	Clarke, Robert F. Lizards in Kansas. Kansas School Naturalist 11(4):1-16
1974	Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (1):283 pp Joseph T. Collins first Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Smith 1956)>
1977	Smith, Hobart M. and Anthony J. Kohler. A survey of herpetological introductions in the United States and Canada. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 80(1/2):241-
1982	Collins, Joseph T. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. 2nd edition. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Public Education Series (8): Joseph T. Collins second Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1974)>
1984	Secor, Stephen M. and Charles C. Carpenter. Distribution maps of Oklahoma reptiles. Oklahoma Herpetological Society Special Publication (3):1-57
1990	Simon, Martin P. and Joseph H. Dorlac. The results of a faunistic survey of reptiles and amphibians of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, Pratt. 11pp.
1991	Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1991	Vance, Thomas. Morphological variation and systematics of the Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis (Reptilia: Iguanidae). Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 27(2):43-89
1993	Collins, Joseph T. and Suzanne L. Collins. Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas. Third Edition. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Lawrence. 397pp. Joseph T. Collins third Kansas herpetology. <Need to get species total and principal differences with previous 'version' (= Collins 1982)>
1998	Conant, Roger and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. 3rd ed, expanded. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. pp.
1998	Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. A Key to Amphibians & Reptiles of the Continental United States and Canada. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 131pp.
2009	Kraus, Fred. Alien Reptiles and Amphibians: A Scientific Compendium and Analysis. SpringerVerlag, Heidelberg, Germany. 563pp.
2012	Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada: Second Edition, Revised and Updated. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 152pp.
2016	Powell, Robert, Roger Conant, and Joseph T. Collins. Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. 494pp.
2017	Crother, Brian I. (editor) Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding. Eighth edition. Herpetological Circulars (43):1-102
2019	Powell, Robert, Joseph T Collins, and Errol D Hooper Jr. Key to the Herpetofauna of the Continental United States and Canada. Third Edition. Univ Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. 192pp.

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