We found this critter keeping a watchful eye on the construction at Adams Fairacre Farms during our most recent grocery trip:
I think it’s an undocumented alien that entered the US stowed away in a tropical plant, because it was affixed to the array of ceramic pots outside their (open) greenhouse windows:
To the best of my admittedly limited herpetological knowledge, none of our native lizards / geckos / whatever have such a distinctive dorsal frill / fin / ridge. I have no idea how to look the critter up, though.
We left it to seek its own destiny. Unless it’s a mated female (hard to tell with lizards), it’ll have a lonely life.
Perhaps it practices rishratha, which is entirely possible.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 
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6 responses to “Monthly Image: Mystery Lizard”
Maybe a brown anole. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_anole
Now that is a flashy critter!
The top picture shows the smallest hint of a dewlap, just a touch of a white(ish)-bordered orange(-ish) flap: thanks for the ID!
And, of course, they’re ferociously invasive. Might not survive the winters around here, although winters aren’t what they used to be, back in the day, and there’s surely more wherever he came from.
Some lizards species reproduce asexually.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/asexual-lizards/
Yeesh. Just what we need: a (semi)clone lizard army.
Seems to be a small baby Nile monitor! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile_monitor
Now, that’s a lizard!