Anolis carolinensis
Silhouette: Sarah Werning · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Anolis carolinensis or green anole (US: ) (among other names below) is a tree-dwelling species of anole lizard native to the southeastern United States and introduced to islands in the Pacific and Caribbean. A small to medium-sized lizard, the green anole is a trunk-crown ecomorph and can change its color to several shades from brown to green.
Other names include the Carolina anole, Carolina green anole, American anole, American green anole, North American green anole and red-throated anole. It is commonly called chameleon in the southeastern United States and sometimes referred to as the American chameleon (typically in the pet trade) due to its color-changing ability; however, it is not a true chameleon.
Anolis carolinensis is a species of the large lizard genus Anolis within the family Dactyloidae (anole lizards). This species was named by Friedrich Siegmund Voigt (1781-1850) in 1832. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that the Carolina anole belongs to the Anolis carolinensis anole series, a wider clade of Caribbean Anolis which are all also known as "green anoles". This group is composed of mid-sized trunk-crown anoles with large, conspicuously elongated heads and... Wikipedia →
Recording0:19
United States · 2026
© critterstalker · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Naha | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 7 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 3 | California Academy of Sciences | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Diego Zoo Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Oakland Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Assiniboine Park Zoo | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Western North Carolina Nature Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Reptile Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Dallas World Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Aquarium and Natural History Museum in Kraków | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 12 | Medicine Park Aquarium & Natural Sciences Center | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green Anole sighting in San Diego on a given day, based on 975 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 4th most-seen of the 29 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March to September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green Anole in San Diego on a given day, against about 10% in October to February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Anole sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Green Anole sightings, San Diego ranks 8th at about 20%. The best odds are in Austin (United States, about 50%), San Antonio (United States, about 50%) and Dallas (United States, about 40%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Anole is recorded against all the reptiles logged in San Diego (975 verified sightings), 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.
