I am new to the forum, and have been searching for 2 days for any pictures or information on the lizard I have caught. I was working Thursday in Port Charlotte, FL, when I spotted this beauty on a stack of cinder blocks at a construction site. Took me several trys to catch it, and finally trapped it. South FL is abundant with brown and green anoles, and few and far apart knight anoles in our area, most are in miami. A few people have thought it is a Western Green Lizard, but comparison shows otherwise. Here are 5 pics of it, with a picture showing length.

Definately a teiid of some sort, meaning its in the family of racerunners, whiptails, and ameivas. It doesn't look like any native to that area, but southern FL is known for its introduced species. The one's I can name that would be more common there include giant ameivas (Ameiva ameiva), rainbow whiptails (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus), and six-lined racerunners (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus sexlineatus).

I can say right now its definately not a giant ameiva. The head structure is all wrong. It doesn't look like a six-lined racerunner either. The pattern is completely lacking in any horizontal striping. Its not vibrant enough to look like a rainbow whiptail, although they do tend to vary a bit in their coloration. My guess is that its some non-native species, though I still wouldn't rule out the possibility of it being a strangely patterned native one. Teiids can be variable in their patterns sometimes.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

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Matt, how did I know you would be the first to respond to this?

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~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

I got more information from the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission. Its a spiny tailed iguana. First I have seen in Sarasota/Charlotte/Manatee county area ever. Boca Grande, an island just southwest of us has a gigantic population of green iguanas, but no spiny's. Thanks for the help though guys!

Lacey, trust me, I tried real hard to figure out what it was first...I gave up because I new Matt would come through.

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MARSHA
A man without a woman is a bachelor, A woman without a man is a genius!.

We have enough youth, how about a fountain of smart!

I gave it up to Matt myself, this one has me stumped.

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

Its a Spiny Tailed Iguana guys. Thanks for the assistance though!

I've looked through every reference I have, of the 2 species of Spiny tailed iguanas I have pictures of, yours looks like none of them. I more agree with Matt that it is a Teiid as opposed to an Iguanidae. Did the W.C.C. actually see your specimen or did they advise you on it's description ?

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan

You are doing a good job with your reference, but do the Teiid's have the pores under the hind legs? This specimen does



Also, it has the trademark iguana 3rd eye scale on the top of its head. I am going off several other forums with information as well. Here are a few more pics of it.

Hmmm,,,,don't know about pores on the Teiids, but racerunners are in the family Iguanidae !!!!

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Ken
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem." -- Ronald Reagan