The hatchling Brown Anole as discovered.
Animals spanning a wide taxonomic breadth often serendipitously appear in households and greenhouses after hitching rides in potted plants being transported (e.g., Perry et al., 2006). In Anolis lizards, this pattern is well-documented, especially in the notoriously successful invader, the Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei). Indeed, A. sagrei populations have been established outside of their native range widely across the globe, from Taiwan (Norval et al., 2002) to Bermuda (Stroud et al., 2017) to Angola (Ceríaco and Bauer, 2020).
The hatchling after plucked out of the pot!
In the northeastern United States, Anolis encounters are less common, but are occasionally reported. For example, most recently in January, a Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) was reported from Cape Cod. On Monday, I was alerted to a hatchling Anolis sagrei in Anne Arundel County, Maryland that took a ride home from a Lowe’s in a mother-in-law’s tongue (Dracaena trifasciata). Where this individual originated from is unknown, but as Graham Reynolds (University of North Carolina Asheville) previously writes, do lizards in potted plants constitute range extensions? Echoing the sentiment of Graham, established populations in the states that ring the Gulf of Mexico are presumably assisting in leapfrogging expansions of anoles throughout the United States, further propelling the Brown Anole invasion. Where will A. sagrei turn up next?
Ceríaco, L. and Bauer, A. 2020. Geographic Distribution: Anolis sagrei (Brown Anole) in Angola, Africa. Herpetological Review. 51. 271.
Norval, G., Mao, J. J., Chu, H. P., and Chen, L. C. 2002. A new record of an introduced species, the brown anole (Anolis sagrei) (Duméril & Bibron, 1837), in Taiwan. Zoological Studies, 41(3), 332–335
Perry, G., Powell, R., & Watson, H. 2006. Keeping invasive species off Guana Island, British Virgin Islands. Iguana: Conservation Natural History, and Husbandry of Reptiles, 13, 273-277.
Stroud, J. T., Giery, S. T., and Outerbridge, M. E. 2017. Establishment of Anolis sagrei on Bermuda represents a novel ecological threat to Critically Endangered Bermuda skinks (Plestiodon longirostris). Biological Invasions, 19(6), 1723-1731.
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Rick Wallach
I think finding a hatchling in a plant pot in Maryland could hardly be considered a “range extension.” I would need evidence of a breeding population which has survived at least one winter freeze. Of course, even such populations find themselves targets of native predators (racers, king or milk snakes, skinks, fence lizards, treefrogs, jays in Maryland, for a slight example) and we have seen isolated breeding populations extirpated by that route. So I’d be cautious.
I reported last summer sighting a brown anole on a shrub planter along a pedestrian mall in Alcala de Henares, Spain. I thought it was worth noting even though it was the sole specimen I noticed (and of course I became obnoxious to my colleagues when I began nosing through every shrub on the mall after that) because in terms of climate, Alcala is probably on the same thermal cusp as the inland Carolinas where green anoles hold forth despite periodic freezes. I had been hoping to revisit the university in Alcala this summer but of course a plague got in the way….
Anne Kerns
We found a green anole on my sister’s porch yesterday… in Silver Spring, MD!
Aryeh Miller
Fascinating, Anne! Any idea where it might have come from? Recent potted plant?
Anne
Never figured it out. I think she saw it again the next day and then not since then.
jacqueline marino
Greetings from PGH, we just discovered a baby brown diamondback anole tonight in our living room! Believe it was a stow away from a recent Snake plant purchased at Aldi =)
Heather
I am a houseplant hobbyist. I have had not one, but two anole hatchlings show up in my home in the last year. One I gave to a friend that is keeping it as a pet. This new one is in my indoor basement greenhouse and I haven’t been able to catch it yet. Not sure what I’d do with it as I feel terribly releasing it in the cold. I’m in Delaware.
Jonathan Losos
Definitely don’t let it go outside! It will freeze to death, and if it somehow survived, it doesn’t belong there. If you have any insects in your greenhouse, you might benefit from free pest control!
walt
I found a green anole today, it was below freezing and it was on the concrete in an alley. (1100 Block, South Paca St, Baltimore) I was amazed to see he was alive! He (she?) was dark brown and shriveled up. I reached down to touch him, and could see his lungs moving. I picked him up and held onto him for a while–I was working, so I went to my truck, placed him in a water bottle with holes poked in it, and stuck him back in my jacket. He turned green and became very active. I have him now (it’s still very cold out). I am finding that they make awesome pets and live from 4-6years.
(: