Genus Norops - Anole Lizards

Scientific Name

Common Name

Distribution

Size

Notes

Norops

N. ahli

Escambray Blue-Eyed Anole

Cuba (Sierra de Trinidad)

5-6½"

This is a brown anole with very obscure red striping on the back and a black patch on the neck [Heselhaus & Schmidt]. Orange-red dewlap edged in yellow: no other information so far available.

N. allogus

Spanish Flag Anole

Cuba

7½"

This is a forest dweller, being found on tree trunks or the ground. Coloration is a dorsal red-brown with a yellow reticulum: dewlap is yellow with 3-4 vertical stripes [Heselhaus & Schmidt, Perez i Gorgoy]. There are three distinct crests along the back and tail. See the CAD entry for a picture and more details. The EMBL database entry also has a link to pictures.

N. altae

N. alvarazdelteroi

N. amplisquamosus

N. anisolepis

N. annectens

Black-Throated Stout Anole

S Haiti, SW Dominican Republic

5-6"

N. antonii

Statia Bank Tree Anole

Lesser Antilles (St. Eustatius, St. Christopher, Nevis)

8-12"

N. aquaticus

?

Antigua, Bermuda

N. auratus

N. baccatus

N. barkeri

A. benedikti

Costa Rica, Panama

Described in 2011: see Reptile Database entry for details.

N. bicaorum

A. biporcatus

Tropical Green Anole

S Mexico to N South America

8-9"

Also similar in appearance to A. carolinensis, but with a heavier head and heavier ridges over the eyes and a grey to dark olive meshwork of varying design over the uniform green colour [Walls]. Dewlap is pink with bright blue centre.

N. birama

N. bitectus

N. bocourtii

?

Venezuela (Isla Margarita and Morro Fondeadero), Columbia (La Guajira peninsula)

10"

Arboreal species. Males are larger. See the Fläschendräger article for records of this anole in captivity.

N. bombiceps

N. bouvierii

N. breedlovei

N. bremeri

N. capito

Tropical Short-Headed Anole

SE Mexico to Panama

8"

One of the few anole species where the female may be larger than the male. Overall colour is usually brown: males may be mottled or streaked, but females can also have a dark brown mottling and a white middorsal stripe and black dorsolateral stripes [Walls].

N. carpenteri

N. chrysolepis

N. cobanensis

N. compressicauda

N. concolor

N. confusus

N. conspersus

N. crassulus

N. cumingii

N. cupreus

N. cuprinus

N. cusuco

N. cymbops

N. damulus

N. delafuentei

N. dollfusianus

N. duellmani

N. exsul

Panama

?"

??.

N. forbesi

Forbes' Anole

Mexico.

?"

??].

N. fortunensis

? Anole

?

?"

??.

N. fungosus

N. fuscoauratus

N. gadovii

N. garmani*

Jamaican Giant Anole

Jamaica, Cayman Islands: Florida (introduced)

14"

N. garmani is bright green in colour with an orange dewlap with an olive-yellow edge. There is a series of upwards-reaching subtle green bands on the sides.

N. gibbiceps

Hook Anole

Guyana, N Venezuela

?"

??.

N. gracilipes

St Vincent Tree Anole

St Vincent (Lesser Antilles)

14"

??.

N. grahami

N. granuliceps

N. guafe

N. guazuma

N. haguei

N. hobartsmithi

N. homolechis

N. humilis

N. ibague

N. imias

N. intermedius

N. isthmicus

N. johnmeyeri

N. jubar

N. kemptoni

N. kreutzi

N. laeviventris

N. lemniscatus

N. lemurinus

N. limifrons

N. lineatopus

Stripefoot Anole

Jamaica

?"

??.

N. lineatus

Striped Anole

?"

??.

N. liogaster

N. lionotus

N. loveridgei

N. lynchi

N. macrinii

N. macrolepis

N. macrophallus

N. maculiventris

N. magnaphallus

W Panama

N. mariarum

N. matudai

N. medemi

N. megapholidotus

N. meridionalis

N. mestrei

N. microlepidotus

N. microlepis

N. milleri

N. muralla

N. naufragus

N. nebuloides

N. nebulosus

Clouded Anole

Mexico (Sinaloa)

?"

It is an attractive blue-grey colour. De Vosjoli has a picture.

N. nitens

N. notopholis

N. ocelloscapularis

N. omiltemanus

N. onca

?

Venezuela (Isla Margarita and Morro Fondeadero), Columbia (La Guajira peninsula)

10"

This species differs from other anoles in having no adhesive lamallae on its toes but has keeled scales instead. For this reason it was once placed in a separate, monotypic genus, Tropiodactylus. [Fläschendräger]. It is a ground dweller but will climb into bushes.

N. opalinus

N. ophiolepis

N. ortonii

N. pachypus

N. pandoensis

N. parvicirculatus

N. pentaprion

N. petersii

N. pijolense

N. pinchoti

N. poecilopus

N. polylepis

N. polyrhachis

N. purpurgularis

N. pygmaeus

N. quadriocellifer

N. quercorum

N. reconditus

N. rhombifer

N. rivalis

N. roatanensis

N. rodriguezi

N. rubribarbaris

N. rubribarbus

N. sagrei**

(Cuban) Brown Anole

Mexico (Yucatan), Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas, Isla de la Juventud, Cayman Islands, Isla de la Bahia; Florida, Georgia, Hawaii (introduced)

8½"

Widely spread throughout the Carribean, with several subspecies. Although the EMBL entry now considers this a Norops species, this is unlikely to catch on at the popular level at least. Brown Anoles are more terrestrial than Green Anoles, one reason why similar-sized specimens of the two species may be kept together in community vivaria. Indeed, Heselhaus & Schmidt suggest that the Brown Anole can be kept with most similar-sized "green" species. It should be noted however that males are extremely aggressive towards each other. The red dewlap of the male is edged in a paler colour and is spotted. Males are generally larger than females, have proportionately larger heads and a nuchal crest [de Vosjoli]. See below for details of the differentiation between the various subspecies. The Florida population is an interesting case: originally it was colonised by the two subspecies A. s. sagrei and A. s. ordinatus, but these have become so intergraded with each other that distinction between the two in this part of the world is no longer possible. Joachim Suntrup has an interesting page on captive care and breeding of Brown Anoles.

N. s. greyi*

Anole

Central Cuba

Crimson dewlap with white spotting: similar red marking around the eyes.

N. s. luteosignifer*

Anole

Cayman Brac

N. s. mayensis*

Anole

?

N. s. nelsoni*

Anole

Swan Island (off Yucatan, Mexico)

N. s. ordinatus*

Bahaman Brown Anole

Bahamas

Dewlap is yellow-orange with a few largeish red markings.

N. s. sagrei*

Cuban (Brown) Anole

Cuba, Yucatan coast (Mexico), Belize: Florida, Hawaii (introduced).

Nominate subspecies, and probably the main invader of US territories.

N. s. scripti*

Anole

?

Recorded by Heselhaus & Schmidt: otherwise I have been unable to find any further information. Similar in appearance to A. s. greyi but lacks the eye markings.

N. salvini

N. scapularis

N. schiedei

N. schmidti

N. sericeus

Blue-Spot-/Silky Anole

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras

?"

Yellow dewlap with bright blue spot.

N. s. sericeus

N. s. sallaei

N. s. ustus

N. serranoi

N. simmonsi

N. sminthus

N. subocularis

N. sulcifrons

N. taylori

N. tolimensis

N. townsendi

N. trachyderma

N. tropidogaster

N. tropidolepis

N. tropidonotus

Greater Scaly Anole

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua

?"

May still often be referred to as Anolis tropidonotus. Click here for a picture. This may be a variable species in colour, since de Vosjoli's photograph shows two rather grey lizards with subtle banding.

N. uniformis

N. utilensis

N. utowanae

N. valencienni

N. vicarius

N. villai

N. vittigerus

N. vociferans

N. wampuensis

N. wermuthi

N. woodi

N. yoroensis

N. zeus