Anolis carolinensis
Silhouette: Sarah Werning · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
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 |
No species of the same family or order lives in Congaree National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Green Anole sighting in Congaree National Park on a given day, based on 186 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 22 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Green Anole in Congaree National Park on a given day, against about 40% in January, the lowest month.
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.
Yes
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Green Anole sightings, Congaree National Park has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Everglades National Park (United States, about 40%) and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 30%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Anole is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Congaree National Park (186 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.
