Anolis sagrei Brown Anole
Also known as:
Festive Anole
Anole maestro Jonathan Losos of Anole Annals is working hard to encourage the use of the more exciting name "Festive Anole" for this species.
Subspecies I've seen:
A. s. ordinatus
Bahaman Brown Anole
A. s. sagrei
Cuban Brown Anole
Anolis sagrei ordinatus Bahaman Brown Anole
Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, BahamasFebruary 3, 2012
Bahaman Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei ordinatus)
Atlantis Resort is an unbelievably luxurious playground on Paradise Island, a few miles from Nassau, Bahamas. Michael Jackson rented the fanciest suite of rooms. More than one James Bond movie has been filmed on site. Manta rays swim in giant aquaria mimicking the undersea remains of the mythical eponymous city. And, last but not least, little brown lizards hang out on the trees.

The subspecies of Anolis sagrei are in flux these days. Some authorities consider Anolis ordinatus a distinct species, whereas others consider Anolis sagrei ordinatus indistinguishable from Anolis sagrei sagrei. I'll just leave it as Anolis sagrei ordinatus until this shakes out a little more.

Castaway Cay, BahamasFebruary 4, 2012
Bahaman Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei ordinatus) Bahaman Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei ordinatus)
Nearby Castaway Cay is owned by Disney, and visited by Disney cruise ships. Perhaps I was on one of those. Perhaps.
Anolis sagrei sagrei Cuban Brown Anole
Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 25, 1998
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
Brown anoles, an introduced species from Cuba and the Bahamas, swarm over the Miami area and south Florida in general. My mother-in-law's yard in Coral Gables, for example, has dozens of these active little lizards. Here's a male on a downed palm trunk showing off his dewlap.
Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 26, 1998
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
This young fellow was sticking to ground cover plants. Brown anoles are often in trees, but they're also often on the ground. Where the native green anoles and brown anoles coexist, you often see the brown anoles on the ground and in the lower branches, and the green anoles in the higher branches.
Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 29, 1998
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
Here's another young one. The youngsters often have reddish heads. Brown anoles vary quite a bit in their shade and dorsal pattern.
Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 29, 1998
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
This one seems to have an identity crisis. I think it liked the specific name "radicalis".
Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 27, 2000
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
I've started a collection of photos of brown anoles on signs. So far I have two.
Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 25, 2002
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
What better way to spend Christmas than photographing brightly-colored lizards in the yard, I ask you?
Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaMarch 7, 2004
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
This was an excellent brown-anole-photographing day. Not only did I catch one in the act of showing off its dewlap, but I doubled the size of my collection of pictures of brown anoles on signs.
Myakka River State Park, Sarasota County, FloridaApril 10, 2004
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
Studly adult male brown anoles sometimes display their extreme macho qualities with a crest on the head and back, like this individual.
Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 25, 2006
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
Here's a couple of Christmas anoles. The first one is a studly male with its pronounced crest; the second is a beautiful female with its red head.
Fairchild Tropical Garden, Coral Gables, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 30, 2006
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
My collection of photos of brown anoles on signs is now 25% larger.
South Miami, Miami-Dade County, FloridaMarch 5, 2013
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
Mmmm, strawberries!
Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, FloridaMarch 1, 2021
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
Mmmm, more strawberries!
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade County, FloridaMarch 4, 2021
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
And for my next trick...
Flamingo Marina, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 15, 2022
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
This young anole was part of a hoodlum gang attacking this poor innocent grasshopper. They would take turns running in and trying to grasp the grasshopper in their mouths, but their mouths weren't quite big enough and the grasshopper repeatedly thrashed its way to freedom. I left before the happy or tragic ending took place.
Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, FloridaDecember 19, 2022
Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei) Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei sagrei)
I hadn't seen that many sleeping anoles on past trips to the Everglades, but that's because I spent most of the time after dark driving on roads looking for snakes. Turns out if you walk on trails there are plenty o' sleeping anoles to be found.
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