Description:
Scientific name: Anolis extremus
Life span: 2 years
A. extremus is a medium-sized snout-vent anole (Anolis lizard) (body excluding tail). Males have heads that range in color from a light blue-gray to a pale lavender. Their bellies are golden, while their dorsal surfaces are deep green with dark markings and occasionally white patches. Females can have a mid-dorsal stripe and are often smaller and duller in color.
Native Region/Habitat
An island nation in the Caribbean, Barbados is home to a species of anole lizard known as the Barbados anole (Anolis extremus). It was introduced to Bermuda and Saint Lucia after being endemic to Barbados.
Behavior:
Most terrestrial environments, including woods, gullies, and residential areas, are occupied by native people, but grassland is not one of them. A. extremus does not aestivate or go into hibernation; instead, it is active all year round. They are primarily found in Barbados on trees, including the trunk and larger branches in the canopy, low bushes, building walls, fences, and the ground. It’s typical to see juveniles among the foliage on the forest floor. Although this discovery has not been statistically supported, it appears that the head bob display behavior has changed in the introduced population on Bermuda compared to the native population on Barbados. A. extremus favors cooler environments in Bermuda than A. grahami, another invasive species. These two species interact aggressively with one another while having generally identical body sizes and ecological needs.
Care As a pet/In captivity:
Feeds on fruit and occasionally ants, spiders, grasshoppers, cockroaches, and insect larvae.
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