CHAPTER XII: THE AMERICAN CHAMELEON 

 GhNus Anolis 



The North /American Representalive of a Large, New World Genus 

 of Lizards that are Remarkable in the Habit oj 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 noway related to the true chame- 

 leons {Chamceleontidce) 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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