One of the things that I love most about our facility is being able to see animals behaving just as they would in the wild. As I was doing check-in this morning (basically the morning wellness check before guests arrive), I was passing by the green anole exhibit when some erratic movement caught my eye. One of our male anoles had turned bright green and was doing frantic push ups, while at the same time extending his bright dewlap (the flap of skin just below the chin). Luckily, I had my phone on me and I was able to record a brief video before he retreated into his hide.
Green anoles are sometimes known as "American Chameleons" due to their ability to change colors. Despite their name, our anoles are usually a dull grayish-brown during most of the year, and only turn bright green in the spring and early summer when they begin doing these sorts of displays. The purpose of this display is twofold; this male is signaling to the females (3 on exhibit) his intent to mate, while also signaling to our other older male that this is his territory.
The bobbing sequence is unique to this particular species. In fact, each species has a dewlap of a different pattern and a slightly different bobbing sequence to identify one another! Even in overlapping habitats, these lizards maintain separate breeding populations due to these behaviors.
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