A green and white knight

As I was strolling through a nearby botanical garden, I heard a rustling sound coming from a bush alongside the path.  After searching for a moment, I located the source: a green lizard that was considerably larger than any of the anoles in our garden.

A green lizard with white markings amongst the foliage.

Although I expected the lizard to scurry off as I approached, it did not.  Instead, the lizard froze, and I was able to get a closer look at it.

A juvenile knight anole (Anolis equestris).

However, a closer look just convinced me that I had never seen a lizard like it before.  I thought that the distinctive-looking white bands would make identifying this lizard a simple task.  In fact, it was the reverse.  I eventually learned that the white bands are only present in some juveniles (possibly only the females) of this species: the knight anole (Anolis equestris).  In contrast, the stripes below the eyes and above the shoulders persist into adulthood; these can be used much more reliably to recognize the knight anole, which is yet another species introduced to Florida from Cuba.