See text Polychrus is the only extant genus of polychrotid lizards in the world.

[2] Commonly called bush anoles, they are found in Central and South America, as well as nearby Trinidad and Tobago.

True anoles in other genera are now placed in Dactyloidae.

Polychrus is presently in the family Polychrotidae.

[3][2] Though species of Polychrus have an almost exclusively South American distribution today, a stem representative, Sauropithecoides charisticus, was reported from the late Eocene of North Dakota, USA.