Natural History: Green Anole

Hi guys!
I hope everyone is staying sane and healthy. Today I wanted to share a herp that I feel like I've been seeing everywhere! Introducing: the green anole, an arboreal lizard that can be found in the Southeastern United States. It's official name is Anolis carolinensis, which is totally appropriate, since we live in South Carolina! These little guys have what we call setae, or sticky toe pads, to help them climb trees and walls like Spiderman. They are pretty easy to identify, given their bright green color and cream throats, but it's a little trickier to tell the sex. Males typically have a swollen cloaca, and possess colorful pink throat fans called dewlaps. These help to ward off predators as well as attract potential mates.

Isn't she cute?
Photo cred: http://thetyedyediguana.com/green-anole-anolis-carolinensis/

As a class, we took two field trips: one was to the Turtle Survival Center, and the other was to Caw Caw Interpretive Center. Not only did we spot green anoles in both places, but some of my classmates even caught a few at Caw Caw! While all of the anoles we saw seemed to be in similar life stages (adults), the sizes did range. Perhaps they were different sexes, with the male being larger. But females generally have a white racing stripe down the center of their back, which can be seen in both anoles in the second picture. I didn't see evidence of dewlaps and I didn't get a chance to examine their cloacas so I'm not 100% sure. But aren't they cool?

Different sizes and angles!
Photo cred: Professor Welch

When I was out walking my dog the other day-keeping a distance from others in the midst of this Covid crisis, of course-I spotted a little anole on the side of a nearby building! It was definitely a male, because I could see a dewlap. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture the dewlap in my picture but check him out!

Hey dude!
Photo cred: me

It's comforting to see that nature is still kickin' even though it feels like the rest of the world is in chaos. I'm excited for everyone else to share their herps!