page_title: Anolis carolinensis
section_title: Coloration and color morphs
hierarchical_section_title: Anolis carolinensis / Description / Coloration and color morphs
caption_attribution_description: English: Anolis carolinensis, on Confederate jasmine, South Carolina, demonstrating camouflage
context_page_description: Anolis carolinensis is an arboreal anole lizard native to the southeastern United States and introduced elsewhere. Common names include the Carolina anole, green anole, American green anole, American anole, and red-throated anole. It is also sometimes referred to as the American chameleon due to its ability to change color from several brown hues to bright green, and its somewhat similar appearance and diet preferences. However it is not a true chameleon and the nickname is misleading although it can camouflage.
context_section_description: Colour varies from brown to green and can be changed like many other kinds of lizards, but anoles are closely related to iguanas and are not true chameleons. Although A. carolinensis is sometimes called an 'American chameleon', true chameleons do not naturally occur in the Americas, and A. carolinensis is not the only lizard currently in its area of distribution capable of changing colour. In contrast, many species of true chameleons display a greater range of color adaptation, though some can hardly change color at all.
  The typical coloration for a Carolina anole ranges from the richest and brightest of greens to the darkest of browns, with little variation in between. The color spectrum is a result of three layers of pigment cells or chromatophores: the xanthophores, responsible for the yellow pigmentation; cyanophores, responsible for the blue pigmentation, and melanophores, responsible for the brown and black pigmentation. The anole changes its color depending on mood, level of stress, activity level and as a social signal (for example, displaying dominance). Although often claimed, evidence does not support that they do it in response to the color of the background (camouflage). Whether they do it in response to temperature (thermoregulation) is less clear, with studies both supporting it and contradicting it. Changing color while under a sharply contrasting shadow can cause a "stencil effect", where the outline of the shadow is temporarily imprinted in the animal's coloration (see image in gallery, below). When stressed—while fighting, for example—the skin just behind the lizard's eyes may turn black independently from the rest of the animal's coloration, forming "postocular spots."
  A lack in one of the pigment genes causes color exceptions. These color mutations are also called phases. The rare blue-phased Carolina anole lacks xanthophores, which results in a blue, rather than red, often pastel blue, anole. These specimens have become popular recently in the pet trade market. When the anole is completely lacking xanthophores, it is said to be axanthic and the animal will have a completely pastel- or baby-blue hue. They are extremely rare—usually produced in one of every 20,000 individual anoles in the wild. Another phase is the yellow-phased Carolina anole, which lacks cyanophores. Colonies of these rare color-phased anoles have been reported, but anoles with these color mutations rarely live for long, since the green color provides camouflage for hunting down prey, as well as hiding from predators.
caption: Anolis carolinensis on Star Jasmine, South Carolina, demonstrating camouflage
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