Source: Anole 1

Length of Segment: 00:01:15

Hi, I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson, out with the wild things. Among the most conspicuous of our native lizards is the green anole: a slender five to eight inch long lizard that runs along tree and shrub surfaces in search of insects and spiders. A green anole is easily recognized because of its slender appearance, long tail, long toes, long nose, and characteristic lime-green color above with white to green below. A male green anole has a conspicuous dewlap, loose skin that can be extended from the throat downward and projecting slightly forward, sticking out like the keel on a sailboat. In most of the range of the green anole, this dewlap is a strawberry-red. In South Florida, it can vary from red to pink to cream-colored and sometimes even to magenta, blue, or purple. Females have a dewlap too, and it's used in much the same way, but it is generally much less conspicuous. The male green anole sticks out his dewlap in a spectacular display that is often accompanied by bobbing up and down as if the lizard were doing push-ups. The bobbing and the dewlap are used as a warning display to defend a territory against a neighboring lizard or to court a mate.

'With the Wild Things' is produced at the Whitaker Center in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University. For 'The Wild Things', I'm Dr. Jerry Jackson.



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