THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Anolidae  

Hispaniolan Green Anole
Anolis chlorocyanus Duméril and Bibron, 1837
AH-NOH-lis — KLOR-oh-SIGH-an-us

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to Hispaniola, it was first introduced via the pet trade in 1986 in Port Mayaca, Martin County, Florida (Camposano and Krysko, 2019, Anolis chlorocyanus. Pages 369–370 in Krysko et al. (Editors). Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida). It is also established in Parkland, Broward (Moler, 1988, A Checklist of Florida’s Amphibians and Reptiles. Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission, Nongame Wildlife Program, Tallahassee; Butterfield et al., 1994, Herpetological Review 25: 77–78; Kolbe et al., 2007, Conservation Biology 21: 1612–1625) and West Palm Beach, Palm Beach (Camposano et al., 2009, Herpetological Review 40: 363–364; Camposano and Krysko, 2019, op. cit.) counties. Previously established populations in Martin (Camposano and Krysko, 2019, op. cit.) and Miami-Dade (Bartlett, 1988, In Search of Reptiles. E. J. Brill, New York, New York; Meshaka et al., 2004, The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. Krieger Publishing Company, Melbourne, Florida) counties in Florida have been extirpated. Use of the subgeneric name follows Poe et al. (2017, Systematic Biology 66: 663–697). The English name Dominican Green Anole is used by Hedges et al. (2019, Caribbean Herpetology (67): 1–53). (Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.03.24.09.37.55)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.06 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Florida

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named for its greenish-blue coloration.
Anolis — Possibly derived from a Caribbean (Taíno or Carib) word for lizards, standardized into Linnaean Latin.
chlorocyanus — Greek chloros = “green” + kyanos = “dark blue” — “green-blue,” referring to its iridescent hues.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Dominican Green Anole (Anolis chlorocyanus: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Selected References:
1837 Dumeril, A. M. Constant and Gabriel Bibron. Erpetologie Generale ou Histoire Naturelle Complete Des Reptiles. Tome Quatrime. [General Herpetology or Complete Natural History of Reptiles. Volume Four.] Librairie Encyclopedique de Roret, Paris, France. 571pp.
1988 Bartlett, Richard D. In Search of Reptiles. E. J. Brill, New York, New York. pp.
1994 Butterfield, Brian P., Walter E. Meshaka, Jr., and Roger L. Kilhefner. Two anoles new to Broward County, Florida. Herpetological Review 25(2):77-78
2007 Kolbe, Jason L., Richard E. Glor, Lourdes Rodríguez Schettino, Ada ChamizoLara, Allan Larson and Jonathan B. Losos. Multiple sources, admixture, and genetic variation in introduced Anolis lizard populations. Conservation Biology 21(6):1612-1625
2009 Camposano, Brian J, M. D. Halvorsen, and Kenneth L. Krysko. Geographic distribution: Anolis chlorocyanus (Hispaniolan Green Anole). Herpetological Review 40:363-364
2017 Poe, Steven, A., Adrián Nieto-montes de Oca, Omar Torres-carvajal, Kevin De Queiroz, Julián A. Velasco, Brad Truett, Levi N. Gray, Mason J. Ryan, Gunther Köhler, Fernando Ayala-varela, and Ian Latella A phylogenetic, biogeographic, and taxonomic study of all extant species of Anolis (Squamata; Iguanidae). Systematic Biology 66(5):663–697
2019 Krysko, Kenneth L., Kevin M. Enge, and Paul E. Moler (Editor) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. 728pp.
2019 Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53
2020 Kohler, Gunther and S. Blair Hedges. A replacement name for the Hispaniolan anole formerly referred to as Anolis chlorocyanus Duméril & Bibron, 1837. Caribbean Herpetology (70):1-3

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Wednesday 09 July 2025 14:28 CT