The Puerto Rican Crested Anole (Anolis cristatellus cristatellus)

The Puerto Rican Crested Anole (Anolis cristatellus cristatellus) @60mm, 1/200, f/2.8, ISO 400

The Puerto Rican crested anole (Anolis cristatellus cristatellus) is the nominate subspecies of the non-crested Anolis cristalleus, see post The Common Lizard (Anolis cristatellus). Some specimens have bigger crests than others. The crested lizard shown here has a slight crest in its tail and dorsal back. Coloration may vary significantly from a brownish-red to a dark black or a very light gray, and colors shift in reaction to temperature and behavioral state. The female is the same size but lacks this crest. It is a native subspecies to Puerto Rico, and has been introduced into eastern Hispaniola, Dominica, and Florida.

It is also a perching species that is common in arboreal habitats. Males especially will use the trunks of trees as a way of displaying to other animals. Because they tend to remain close to the ground, they have been called a trunk-ground species. I'm still amazed this one let me get so close. Usually it's best, if the lizard is larger such as this one, to use a telephoto using the minimal focusing distance, so as to not disturb the reptile. Often, however, I'm having to get close with a 60mm macro, and surprisingly the lizard lets me do this. 

The macro lens does pose some problems, nevertheless. It opens wider (f/2.8), so it needs to be stopped down to get more depth-of-field, otherwise, you will not get the entire lizard in focus, which is okay if you don't mind this. Stopping down a lens also forces you to use a smaller aperture, and this slows down the shutter speed. Setting up a tripod for lizards is simply not viable, since they are extremely skittish. So increasing the ISO is another option, but this means more grain. I find that in photography, there is always a trade-off in most situations.

You will see this one on branches and trunk of trees more often. The macro lens does pose some problems, nevertheless. It opens wider (f/2.8), so it needs to be stopped down to get more depth-of-field, otherwise, you will not get the entire lizard in focus, which is okay if you don't mind this. 1/60,  f/5.6, ISO 400, @60mm

The lizard's coloration may vary significantly from a brownish-red to a dark black or a very light gray, and colors shift in reaction to temperature and behavioral state. 1/80,  f/7.1, ISO 200, @330mm 

Lizard on top of a Yagrumo tree leaf, which has large,  palmate shaped leaves. 1/80,  f/8,  ISO 160, @400

1/60,  f/5.6, ISO 400, @60mm