The green anole lizard is usually sold in pet shops as a charmeleon, by which name it has been known to generations of American children. The true chameleon and the green anole are actually different animals, but they do have much in common, They're both lizards. Most live in trees or bushes, subsisting and eating insects. Both can change color, although the anole's ability to do so is considerably more limited than the chameleon's. This is the trait that has made chameleons and anoles popular as pets. However, the anole's color change, in contrast to the chameleon's, is not, as many people think, related to the color of the background. Instead it is determined by such factors as light and temperature or by such emotions as fright, triumph or defeat. The chameleon is an animal of the Old World, whereas the anoles are found the warmer regions of North South America. The and chameleon lays from two to forty eggs at a time, the anole only a single egg. Recently, biologists have become familiar with the anole as an excellent animal for laboratory studies of the interaction between behavior and hormones. The particular value of the green anoles as experimental animals is that they are abundant that under the appropriate and conditions, the will establish in the laboratory the same social system and behavior they display in their natural environment.