Green Tree Anole
Anolis (Norops) biporcatus
Natural History:
The Green Tree Anole is a relatively large and robust anole and as its name suggests spends a great deal of time in the trees both close to the forest floor and in the canopy.
Because of their large size, these anoles prey on animals larger them what most anoles would consume. Their diet consists of insects, amphibians and lizards including other anole species and even smaller individuals of the same species.
Even though they are a predator they have predators themselves and when threatened will turn brown. This colour change is done by controlling the amount of melanin pigment produced by the lizard's skin cells.
The Green Tree Anole is found in Central America in such countries as Costa Rica where they live their arboreal lifestyle.
In the 1980s it was suggested that anoles in the genus; Anolis should be separated into five new genera such as the genus Norops. This change in nomenclature is not widely used due to the large amount of uncertainty about the relatedness of different species within Anolis. The use of the genus Norops is not commonly used outside of Central America although it is still widely used within Costa Rica when describing native species.
The Green Tree Anole is a relatively large and robust anole and as its name suggests spends a great deal of time in the trees both close to the forest floor and in the canopy.
Because of their large size, these anoles prey on animals larger them what most anoles would consume. Their diet consists of insects, amphibians and lizards including other anole species and even smaller individuals of the same species.
Even though they are a predator they have predators themselves and when threatened will turn brown. This colour change is done by controlling the amount of melanin pigment produced by the lizard's skin cells.
The Green Tree Anole is found in Central America in such countries as Costa Rica where they live their arboreal lifestyle.
In the 1980s it was suggested that anoles in the genus; Anolis should be separated into five new genera such as the genus Norops. This change in nomenclature is not widely used due to the large amount of uncertainty about the relatedness of different species within Anolis. The use of the genus Norops is not commonly used outside of Central America although it is still widely used within Costa Rica when describing native species.