Plica plica
Silhouette: Natalie Claunch · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Plica plica is a species of lizard in the family Tropiduridae, the Neotropical ground lizards. Its common names include collared tree lizard, collared tree runner,tree runner, and harlequin racerunner. In Guyana it is known as wakanama.
Plica plica is native to South America, including Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. It can also be found in the Caribbean, on Trinidad. It was long ago collected in Grenada, but these specimens were likely waifs.
Plica plica is diurnal, active during the day, and arboreal, living most of its life adhered to the sides of tree trunks. It comes down from the trees only to lay eggs, which it places inside rotting palm trees and in palm litter. The female produces at least two clutches per reproductive season, with an average clutch size of three eggs. Larger females lay more eggs than smaller ones. The embryos are sensitive to vibration; lightly rolling an egg can induce it to hatch early. The hatchling is known to explode from the egg and immediately begin running, reaching up to half a meter on its first sprint. The diet of the lizard is composed of insects, and it specializes... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 2 | Brownsberg Nature Park | 🇸🇷 Suriname | |
| 3 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sedgwick County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Audubon Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Wrocław Zoological Garden | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 6 | Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Africarium | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 8 | terrarium ogrodu zoologicznego we Wrocławiu | 🇵🇱 Poland |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Tree Runner sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 75 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 47 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Tree Runner in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against about 20% in January and September, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tree Runner sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Tree Runner sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Sierra de la Macarena National Park (Colombia, about 50%) and Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname, about 40%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tree Runner is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Tambopata National Reserve (75 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.
