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Brown Anole - Anolis sagrei

Florida's Nonnative Wildlife. Species detail.

First year: 1887

Extirpated year:

Established status: Populations are confirmed breeding and apparently self-sustaining for 10 or more consecutive years.

Estimated Florida range: 52 counties At least 10 years, 1 county Less than 10 years

Statewide trend: Expanding

Threats to natives: Anecdotal and some experimental evidence suggest that the brown anole is primarily responsible for reduced numbers of green anoles (Anolis carolinensis), particularly in human-altered habitats. Brown anoles displace green anoles to higher in trees, and adult male brown anoles sometimes prey upon smaller green anoles (e.g., Gerber 1991, Echternacht 1999, Campbell 2000).

Species Account: The brown anole is native to Cuba and the Bahamas, and it was first observed in the Florida Keys in 1887 (Garman 1887). It arrived in the major seaports of South Florida during the 1940s (Oliver 1950, Bell 1953) and had become firmly established in most large urbanized areas south of Gainesville by 1980 (Godley et al. 1981, Lee 1985). Peripheral populations continue to be established in the panhandle and northern peninsular Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas via motor vehicles (Campbell 1996) or transport of potted landscaping vegetation. Many of these peripheral populations are along major highways at rest areas, campgrounds, and hotels (Campbell 1996). Cold winters reduce these northern populations but enough individuals usually survive to maintain viable populations. Dense populations occur on nearly every dredge spoil island along the Intracoastal Waterway in the Indian River south of Melbourne (Campbell 1996). Anoles reach these islands by riding on boats or on firewood piles transported on boats by campers (Campbell 1996). This species thrives in disturbed habitats and ornamental plantings but can potentially inhabit almost any inland or coastal habitat in Florida. It is apparently the most abundant anole over much of the southern half of peninsular Florida, and populations now occur in every county in peninsular Florida (Campbell 2003). It often perches low in trees and shrubs but is quite terrestrial, often escaping by running along the ground. Males reach a length of 20 cm (8 in). The body is brown, and males often have bands of yellowish spots, whereas females and juveniles have a light vertebral stripe with dark, scalloped edges. The edge of the dewlap is white and appears as a stripe on the throat when not distended. The dewlap may vary in color from a bright red-orange to pale yellow. Two subspecies, the Bahaman (ordinatus) and Cuban (sagrei), could once be identified in Florida (King and Krakauer 1966), but they can no longer be recognized due to extensive intergradation (Lee 1985, 1987).

Habitats: Coastal upland, Estuarine community, Exotic plant community, Barren land, Low density suburban development, areas peripheral to core urban areas, and small towns, Agricultural habitat, Recently disturbed, early successional community, Pine Rockland, Flatwoods, Xeric Uplands

click here for description of the regions

Region	First Year	Extirpated Year	Breeding status	Notes
NORTH CENTRAL	1980s		At least 10 years
NORTHEAST	1985		At least 10 years
SOUTHWEST			At least 10 years
SOUTH	1887		At least 10 years

County	First Year	Extirpated Year	Breeding status	Notes
ALACHUA	1980		At least 10 years	Gainesville (Wygoda and Bain 1980)
BAKER	1995		Less than 10 years	near MacClenny (Campbell 1996)
BAY	1989		At least 10 years	Panama City Beach (Means 1990a)
BRADFORD	2002		Less than 10 years	Starke (Campbell 2003)
BREVARD	1988		At least 10 years	Melbourne Beach (Cochran 1990)
BROWARD	1964		At least 10 years	Port Everglades (King and Krakauer 1966)
CITRUS	1991		At least 10 years	St. Martin's Aquatic Preserve (Stevenson and Crowe 1992a)
COLLIER	1979		At least 10 years	(Godley et al. 1981)
COLUMBIA	1991		At least 10 years	Lake City (Campbell 1996)
DADE	1951		At least 10 years	Miami (Bell 1953)
DE SOTO	2002		Less than 10 years	Morgan Park near Arcadia (Campbell 2003)
DIXIE	2002		Less than 10 years	Horseshoe Beach (Campbell 2003)
DUVAL	1985		At least 10 years	Jacksonville (Lee 1985)
FLAGLER	1995		Less than 10 years	Bunnell (Campbell 1996)
FRANKLIN	1995		Less than 10 years	St. George Island (Means 1996c)
GILCHRIST	2001		Less than 10 years	Fanning Springs (Townsend et al. 2002)
GLADES	1976		At least 10 years	Palmdale (Corwin et al. 1977)
HAMILTON	1995		Less than 10 years	near Jennings (Campbell 1996)
HARDEE	1998		Less than 10 years	(Christman et al. 2000)
HENDRY	2002		Less than 10 years	Clewiston (Campbell 2003)
HERNANDO	2002		Less than 10 years	15 km east of Brooksville (Campbell 2003)
HIGHLANDS	1977		At least 10 years	Lake Placid (Godley et al. 1981)
HILLSBOROUGH	1947		At least 10 years	Tampa (Oliver 1950)
LAKE	1980		At least 10 years	Alexander Springs State Park, Ocala National Forest (Campbell 2003)
LEE	1977		At least 10 years	Sanibel Island (Funk and Moll 1979); Gasparilla Island (Godley et al. 1981)
LEVY	2001		Less than 10 years	Chiefland (Townsend et al. 2002)
MARION	1979		At least 10 years	Ocala (Godley et al. 1981)
MARTIN	2001		Less than 10 years	Lake Okeechobee (Townsend et al. 2002)
MONROE	1887		At least 10 years	Florida Keys (Garman 1887); Dry Tortugas (Winegarner et al. 1984)
NASSAU	1994		Less than 10 years	Hero (Campbell and Hammontree 1995)
OKEECHOBEE	2002		Less than 10 years	Okeechobee (Campbell 2003)
ORANGE	1978		At least 10 years	Orlando (Godley et al. 1981)
OSCEOLA	1977		At least 10 years	Ocala (Godley et al. 1981)
PALM BEACH	1941		At least 10 years	Intentionally released in Lake Worth (Oliver 1950)
PASCO	1977		At least 10 years	New Port Richey (Godley et al. 1981)
PINELLAS	1946		At least 10 years	St. Petersburg (Oliver 1950)
POLK	1979		At least 10 years	Bartow (Godley et al. 1981)
PUTNAM	1995		Less than 10 years	Palatka (Campbell 1996)
SAINT JOHNS	1975		At least 10 years	St. Augustine (Meylan 1977)
SAINT LUCIE	1977		At least 10 years	Fort Pierce (Myers 1978d)
SARASOTA	1977		At least 10 years	Lido Key (Godley et al. 1981)
SUWANNEE	2002		Less than 10 years	Branford (Campbell 2003)
TAYLOR	2000		Less than 10 years	Econfina River State Park (Townsend et al. 2002)
UNION	2002		Less than 10 years	Branford (Campbell 2003)
VOLUSIA	1989		At least 10 years	Bethune Beach (Campbell 1996)

References

Bartlett, R. D., and P. P. Bartlett. 1999. A field guide to Florida reptiles and amphibians. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas. 278pp.

Bell, L. N. 1953. Notes on three subspecies of the lizard Anolis sagrei in southern Florida. Copeia 1953:63.

Campbell, T. S. 1996. Northern range expansion of the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) in Florida and Georgia. Herpetological Review 27:155-157.

Campbell, T. S. 2000. Analysis of the effects of an exotic lizard (Anolis sagrei) on a native lizard (Anolis carolinensis) in Florida, using islands as experimental units. Dissertation, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. 336pp.

Cambell, T. S. 2003. The introduced brown anole (Anolis sagrei) occurs in every county in peninsular Florida. Herpetological Review 34:173-174.

Campbell, T. S., and J. T. Hammontree. 1995. Anolis sagrei (brown anole). Herpetological Review 26:107.

Christman, S. P., C. A. Young, S. Gonzalez, K. Hill, G. Navratil, and P. Delis. 2000. New records of amphibians and reptiles from Hardee County, Florida. Herpetological Review 31:116-117.

Cochran, P. A. 1990. Anolis sagrei (brown anole). Herpetological Review 21:22.

Corwin, C. M., A. V. Linzey, and D. W. Linzey. 1977. Anolis sagrei sagrei (Cuban brown anole). Herpetological Review 8:84.

Echternacht, A. C. 1999. Possible causes for the rapid decline in population density of green anoles, Anolis carolinensis (Sauria: Polychrotidae) following invasion by the brown anole, Anolis sagrei, in the southeastern United States. Anolis Newsletter V:22-27.

Funk, R. S., and D. Moll. 1979. Anolis sagrei (Cuban brown anole). Herpetological Review 10:102.

Garman, S. 1887. On West Indian Iguanidae and on West Indian Scincidae in the collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A. Bulletin of the Essex Institute 19:25-50.

Gerber, G. P. 1991. Anolis sagrei and Anolis carolinensis in Florida: evidence for interspecific predation. Anolis Newsletter IV:49-53.

Godley, J. S., F. E. Lohrer, J. N. Layne, and J. Rossi. 1981. Distributional status of an introduced lizard in Florida: Anolis sagrei. Herpetological Review 12:84-86.

King, F. W., and T. Krakauer. 1966. The exotic herpetofauna of southeast Florida. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 29:144-154.

Lee, J. C. 1985. Anolis sagrei in Florida: phenetics of a colonizing species I. Meristic characters. Copeia 1985:182-194.

Lee, J. C. 1987. Anolis sagrei in Florida: phenetics of a colonizing species. II: morphometric characters. Copeia 1987:458-469.

Means, D. B. 1990a. Anolis sagrei (Brown anole). Herpetological Review 21:96.

Means, D. B. 1996. Anolis sagrei (brown anole). Herpetological Review 27:151-152.

Meylan, P. A. 1977. Hemidactylus turcicus (Mediterranean gecko). Herpetological Review 8:39.

Myers, S. 1978d. Anolis sagrei (brown anole). Herpetological Review 9:107-108.

Oliver, J. A. 1948. The anoline lizards of Bimini, Bahamas. American Museum Novitates No. 1383. 36pp.

Oliver, J. A. 1950. Anolis sagrei in Florida. Copeia 1950:55-56.

Stevenson, D., and D. Crowe. 1992a. Anolis sagrei (brown anole). Herpetological Review 23:89.

Townsend, J. H., K. L. Krysko, A. T. Reppas, and C. M. Sheehy, III. 2002. Noteworthy records for introduced reptiles and amphibians from Florida, USA. Herpetological Review 33:75.

Winegarner, C. E., W. B. Robertson, Jr., and W. Hoffman. 1984. Anolis sagrei sagrei (brown anole). Herpetological Review 15:77-78.

Wygoda, M. L., and J. R. Bain. 1980. Anolis sagrei (Cuban brown anole). Herpetological Review 11:115.

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