Animalz

Brown Tree Lizard

Anolis sagrei

Brown Tree Lizard
Photo: Daughter Dad · (c) Daughter Dad, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY 4.0

This lizard is native to Caribbean islands and parts of Central America. It is often brown, with darker markings on its back.[4]

Size and lifespan

Body length
maximum in a source 7.5 cm[5][6]
Body length
female Reported size 4.7700000000000005 cm[5]
Weight
Reported size 0.0004 kg[2]
Body length
female · adult Reported size 4.7700000000000005 cm[6]
Body length
newly hatched or born Reported size 1.6 cm[6]

Appearance

It is usually light brown, with darker brown or black markings on the back and pale lines along the sides. The throat fan ranges from yellow to red.[4]

Life

It hunts near the ground and on low plants, feeding on arthropods.[4]

The study classified lizards with orange or red coloration beyond the head and dewlap as the orange phenotype. Pigment extractions detected pterins, not carotenoids, in dorsal skin of orange lizards. Tests found no female preference or differences in measured immune function, endurance or sprint speed; bird conspicuousness was compared with visual models.[3]

Places

Native range · Caribbean, Yucatán and northern Central America[4]

Its native range includes Cuba, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, extending to the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize and the Caribbean coast of Central America.

Sources

  1. Catalogue of Life 2026-09-25 XR

    Catalogue of Life · 2026-10-13

  2. AnimalTraits: body mass, metabolic rate and brain size (Herberstein et al., 2022)

    Herberstein et al. / Zenodo · 2026-10-27

  3. A novel body coloration phenotype in Anolis sagrei: Implications for physiology, fitness, and predation

    PLOS ONE 13(12), e0209261 · 2026-10-25

  4. Brown anole — species description and native range

    Wikipedia · 2026-10-25

  5. ReptTraits v4: reported total, snout–vent and straight carapace lengths (Oskyrko et al., 2024)

    Oskyrko, Mi, Meiri and Du / Figshare · 2026-10-27

  6. SquamBase 1.0: reported maximum, adult female and hatchling/neonate lengths (Meiri, 2024)

    Shai Meiri / Dryad · 2026-10-27

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