THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY

Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Anolidae  

Crested Anole
Anolis cristatellus Duméril and Bibron, 1837

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to Puerto Rico (including many offshore islands), Dominica, and the British and United States Virgin Islands. It was introduced in Highlands County, Florida (Lawson, et al. 2019, Herpetological Review 50: 524) and is established in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties in Florida (Brach, 1977, Copeia 1977: 184–185; Camposano and Krysko, 2019, Anolis cristatellus. Pages 370–372 in Krysko et al. (Editors). Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida). Use of the subgeneric name follows Poe et al. (2017, Systematic Biology 66: 663–697). The English name Puerto Rican Crested Anole is used by Hedges et al. (2019, Caribbean Herpetology (67): 1–53).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2025.03.24.10.24.32)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.09 MB

Province/State Distribution:
USA: Florida

First instance(s) of published English names:
Puerto Rican Crested Anole (Anolis cristatellus: 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.
1977 Brach, V. Notes on the introduced population of Anolis cristatellus, in South Florida. Copeia 1977(1):184-185
1980 Gorman, George C., Donald G. Buth, Michael Soule, and Suh Yung Yang. The relationships of the Anolis cristatellus species group: Electrophoretic analysis. Journal of Herpetology 14(3):269-278
1984 Salzburg, M. A. Anolis sagrei and Anolis cristatellus in southern Florida: A case study in inter-specific competition. Ecology 65(1):14-19
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
2019 Lawson, G. R., A. W. Norden, and B. B. Rothermel. Geographic Distribution: Anolis cristatellus (Crested Anole). Herpetological Review 50(4):524

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Sunday 27 April 2025 11:53 CT