Aquatic Anolis Lizards

After the collapse of human civilization and the extinction of homo sapiens the world was a very changed place. The climate change caused by their industry had caused a vast rise in sea level over a geologically short period of time in many areas. The state of Florida, along with much of the former American South and the Caribbean, was engulfed completely by the sea in only a few centuries. Many animals fled to new areas and ecological collapse was common. The ocean, in particular, saw massive extinctions caused by pollution and increasing acidification of the waters. In the era that followed many terrestrial species evolved to recolonize the seas, and this one in particular saw a brief, yet miraculous dominance of the now-enlarged Caribbean. Lizards of the genus Anolis have always been adept at quickly adapting to new areas due to their rapid breeding, and the post-human era saw this trait ensure that the anole was one of the first creatures to take to the now empty waters. The brown anole in particular, a common sight throughout the Caribbean and Florida, gradually adapted to a fully aquatic lifestyle as its former habitats were taken by the rising tide. Above is an example of an aquatic anole that would have been a common sight seven million years after humans. For a time they seemed to be the new fish, though they lasted for only around three million years or so before they were driven to extinction by the ancestors of the ocean life that had survived the human era and recovered. They propelled themselves through the water using the same back and forth gait they had used during their time on the land and their limbs became flippers that were mostly used for balance and maneuvering rather than propulsion. The dewlap, once exclusive to males and used to attract mates, became a kind of keel that aided in streamlining their swimming style. They lived mainly near the surface in the shallows eating small insects and other invertebrates that ventured to close to the water. They had to lay their eggs on land, and like sea turtles the young would hatch en masse and make a run for the water. As ocean life began to recovery they diversified into new forms and exploited new sources of food, but because they had to continue to lay eggs on land they never evolved any forms that lived in deeper water or grew to larger sizes. Ultimately their reliance on the land is what doomed them as larger predators began to make a comeback and their birthrate could no longer keep up with the levels of predation they were victim to.