Anolis sagrei
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
The brown anole (Anolis sagrei), also known commonly as the Bahaman anole, Cuban brown anole, and de la Sagra's anole, is a species of lizard in the family Anolidae. The species is native to Cuba, the Bahamas, Little Cayman, Cayman Brac, Jamaica, the Swan Islands, the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, and the Caribbean coast of Guatemala and Honduras. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, via the importation and exportation of plants in pots in which brown anoles laid eggs in the soil, and is now found in Florida and other regions of the United States including southern Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Southern California. It has also been introduced to other Caribbean islands, Mexico, Singapore, and Taiwan.
This species is highly invasive. It is also much more wary of humans than most other anole species. In its introduced range, it reaches exceptionally high population densities, is capable of expanding its range very quickly, and both outcompetes and consumes many species of native lizards, like the green anole. The brown anole's introduction into the United States in the early 1970s has altered the behavior and negatively affected populations of the native Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis, also known as the green anole), which has since generally been relegated to the treetops. Wikipedia →
Recording0:16
United States · 2023
© The_cool_moth · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Chagres National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 9 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 10 | Celestún Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 11 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 12 | Cañón del Sumidero National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 13 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 2 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 5 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 9 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 10 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Shubenacadie Wildlife Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Hellabrunn Zoo | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Biouniverzoo | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Tierpark Schlichtweg 15 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Zoo Schlichtweg 11 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Zoo Siebenbrunner Straße 6 in München | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Anole sighting in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 9 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Anole in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, against about 10% in July–August and December, the lowest months. That is one of Ciénaga de Zapata's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against 15 mm in February. May and September have too few records to rate.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Anole sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 13
Of the 13 parks where we can rate Brown Anole sightings, Ciénaga de Zapata ranks 5th at about 30%. The best odds are in Everglades National Park (United States, about 70%), Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 70%) and Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park (Mexico, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Anolis
The closest relatives of the Brown Anole that you can see in Ciénaga de Zapata (genus Anolis, Anoles) are Allison's Anole (about 30%), Knight Anole (about 30%) and Cuban Green Anole (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Anole is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Ciénaga de Zapata (13 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
