1–8, see text Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles (US: /əˈnoʊ.liz/ ⓘ) and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay.

[18] Anoles can function as a biological pest control by eating insects that may harm humans or plants,[19] but represent a serious risk to small native animals and ecosystems if introduced to regions outside their home range.

[29][30] However, the Lesser Antilles are relatively rich compared to their very small land area and their species are all highly localized endemics, each only found on one or a few diminutive islands.

[4][31] The only species native to the contiguous United States is the Carolina (or green) anole, which ranges as far west as central Texas, and north to Oklahoma, Tennessee and Virginia.

[38] Some species live close to humans and may use fences or walls of building as perches,[39] even inhabiting gardens or trees along roads in large cities like Miami.

[57] Underneath an anole's toes are pads that have several to a dozen flaps of skin (adhesive lamellae) going horizontally and covered in microscopic hairlike protrusions (setae) that allow them to cling to many different surfaces, similar to but not quite as efficient as a gecko.

[61][62] In the opposite end of the spectrum is the bulky anole of arid coastal Venezuela and adjacent Colombia, which is the only species completely lacking the specialized toe pad structures.

[104][105] In some anoles the sexes are very similar and difficult to separated under normal viewing conditions, but most species exhibit clear sexual dimorphism, which allows one to fairly easily discern between adult males and females.

[8] The males of many species are overall more brightly colored, while females are duller, more cryptic, and sometimes their upperparts have striped or lined patterns that serve to break up the outline of the anole.

[115] Territorial anoles will fan their dewlap, bob their head, perform "push-ups", raise their crest and do a wide range of other behaviors to scare away potential competitors.

[128] Males attract and court females by performing a range of behaviors, often mirroring those used to scare away competitors, including extending their dewlap and bobbing their heads.

[130] The female lays one (occasionally two) eggs per time,[15][48][129] which typically is placed casually on the ground among leaf-litter, under debris, logs or rocks, or in a small hole.

[143][144] Unusually, the Cuban false chameleon anoles have enlarged and blunt, molar-like teeth in the rear part of their jaw, allowing them to crush the shells of their snail prey.

[71] Most anole species will try to escape from a predator by rapidly running or climbing away, but some will move to the opposite side of a tree trunk (facing away from the would-be attacker), jump to the ground from their perch, or freeze when disturbed, hoping the adversary does not spot it.

[158] Slow-moving anoles, like the twig ecomorphs of the Caribbean and many Dactyloa species of mainland Central and South America, are generally cryptically colored and often coordinate their movements with the wind, resembling the surrounding vegetation.

[164] Especially the widespread convergent evolution seen in anoles living in the Greater Antilles has attracted the attention of scientists, and resulted in comparisons with the Darwin's finches of the Galápagos Islands, lemurs of Madagascar and cichlid fish in the African Great Lakes.

[168][169] Otherwise there are few known fossils, but early phylogenetic and immunological studies indicate that anoles originated 40–66 million years ago, first inhabitant Central or South America, and then came to the Caribbean (initially likely Cuba or Hispaniola).

[7][30][170] A more recent phylogenetic study, published in 2012, indicated that anoles originated in South America and diverged from other reptiles far earlier, about 95 million years ago.

[3] This indicates that early anoles arrived on the Greater Antillean Islands in the Caribbean from the mainland of the Americas via rafting rather than overland via ancient (now submerged) land bridges.

Despite this long separation, they did not experience allopatric speciation, as mixed couples of the different Martinique anole populations can successfully reproduce and remain part of a single species.

They are one of the few known examples of "visible evolution" (i.e., where changes happen at a speed where they can be observed within a human lifetime), together with groups like stickleback fish, guppies and Peromyscus beach mice.

[65] When brown anoles are introduced to small islands with low vegetation, their legs become shorter, better suited for rapidly moving among the shrunken shrubbery to catch insects and avoid predatory birds.

However, after the winter of 2013–2014, the cold tolerance of the southern Texan populations had increased by as much as 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) and their genomic profiles had changed to more closely resemble the more northerly living Carolina anoles.

[162] Large species have relatively strong jaws lined with small, sharp teeth, and their bite can be painful and result in a superficial wound, but it is still essentially harmless.

For example, the Finca Ceres anole, a critically endangered species only known from a single unprotected location in Matanzas Province, Cuba, has suffered habitat loss both due to hurricanes and expanding agricultural land.

[209] A. amplisquamosus, a critically endangered species only known from highland forest in the Cusuco National Park region of Honduras, was common in the early 2000s, but by 2006 it had experienced a drastic decline and was only infrequently encountered.

[211] Similarly, A. landestoyi, which only was described in 2016 and has not been rated by the IUCN, is restricted to the Loma Charco Azul reserve in Hispaniola, but it is seriously threatened by continuing illegal habitat destruction by slash-and-burn agriculture, livestock grazing and production of wood charcoal.

[216] Species restricted to a specific habitat in relatively remote regions, infrequently visited by biologists looking for reptiles, are often virtually unknown and rarely recorded.

Such introductions may happen by mistake (for example, as "stowaways" on garden plants) or deliberately (as predators introduced to combat insects or release of pet anoles people no longer want).

[232] In Japan's Ogasawara Islands, the introduced Carolina anoles have caused declines in native lizards and diurnal insects, including the near-extinction of five endemic dragonfly species and the likely extinction of the Celastrina ogasawaraensis butterfly.