CHAPTER XII: THE AMERICAN CHAMELEON 



GENUS ANOLIS 



The North American Representative of a Large, New World Genus 

 of Lizards that are Remarkable in the Habit of Frequently 

 Changing Their Colours 



THE American "Chameleons" are members of the family 

 Iguanida and represent the genus Anolis, to the number of over 

 a hundred species. They are in no way related to the true chame- 

 leons (Chamaleontidce) of the Old World, but rival those lizards 

 in the characteristic of frequently and completely changing 

 the body hues an involuntary process, mainly influenced by 

 light and temperature. 



Anolis is a New World genus, distributed throughout Mexico, 

 Central America, tropical South America and the West Indies. 

 But one species occurs in the United States. With it, the trait 

 of changing the body hues is most developed of any of the North 

 American Iguanidce. 



THE AMERICAN CHAMELEON; ALLIGATOR LIZARD; 

 FENCE LIZARD; "GREEN" LIZARD 



Anolis carolinensis, (Cuvier) 



A superficial glance at this lizard shows it to closely resemble 

 the outlines of a young alligator in miniature. The head 

 is proportionately large and very distinct from the neck, but 

 the tail is long, round and slender. 



From all other North American lizards except the geckos 



this species may be immediately told by the formation of 



four of the toes on each foot; these are expanded, flattened 



and form adhesive pads; they enable the animal to traverse 



smooth, vertical surfaces with the same facility as the geckos. 



The body is covered with minute scales, above and beneath; 

 they are larger on the head and tail. On the top of the head is 

 a ridge-like prominence of shape similar to a javelin head and 



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