A philosophical question: Is an alien an alien, when nobody recognizes? I don’t think many people will be able to tell a difference between a Gliding lizard, a Changeable lizard or this anole. In fact, it comes from the American continent and is an alien in Asia! Please have a look at this blog entry by Jonathan Losos, a Professor who studies anoles. The whole blog is cool! He found them in 2013 in Singapore and raised the question whether they can survive or even spread. Now in 2021 I would say the population is stable but not spreading much. Maybe they have just been lucky to find a place without too many Calotes?! From now on I will pay even more attention to them!
This species in now also present in Israel (2021), Florida (like so many other invasive species), Taiwan (2002), Ecuador (2017), Mexico (2019) and other parts of the world. So far we found it in two different spots in Singapore. One spot has a red headed color variation. It’s interesting that they found a niche between all the other larger reptiles. They are at least as shy as other small lizards, that’s why my pictures are so so. Sorry for that!
We kept a pair of Anolis carolinensis at home many many years ago, and I suspect this hobby is the way how they travel the world now. The two smaller, less colorful mentioned species are usually cheap, easy to breed beginner pets. Unfortunately.
Anoles are similar to agamids (which cannot be found in Americas), especially the males showing nice colors and nodding the head up and down to claim their territory. Similar to the gliding lizards, male anoles have a dewlap, skin they can extent from their neck. I think femals have a tiny dewlap too. Other than agamids or skinks, anoles can walk on glass like geckos, and some can change color, almost like a chameleon. These are fascinating and successful creatures!
The more species I read about, the more I am happy when a species is neither considered an alien nor a pest. Let’s focus more on the beauty of nature in future!
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