Iguana iguana

Order Sauria / Family Iguanidae
Iguana iguana
APPENDIX II
(Linnaeus, 1758)
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Common names:
engl.:
esp.:
fr.:
de.:
ital.:
Iguana, Common iguana, Green iguana
Gallina de palo, Gorrobo (males), Guacho, Iguana (both sexes), Ministro
Iguane vrai
Grüner Leguan
Iguana comune
Scientific synonyms:
Hypsilophus tuberculatus
Hypsilophus (Hypsilophus) Rhinolophus
Hypsilophus (Hypsilophus) tuberculatus
Iguana caerulea, coerulea, emarginata, Hernandesü, iguana, iguana iguana, iguana rhinolopha,
lophyroides, minima, rhinolophus, sapidissima, squamosa, tuberculata, tuberculata var.
rhinolopha, viridis, vulgaris
Iguana (Hypsilophus) rhinolophus
Iguana (Iguana) tuberculata
Lacerta iguana
Prionodus iguana
Characteristics:
Adult
General description:
A large lizard from the Americas with a long tail and moderately heavy body. The body and tail are
mostly green-coloured, but the head may show other colours (see Colour, below). Possesses a
comb-like dorsal crest on the back and a large dewlap on the throat fringed with 7-22 spines.
Possesses a large scale below the ear (subtympanic plate).
Body size:
Large specimens may attain 2.2 m in total length (snout-vent length is 70-400 mm) and 4-5 kg in
body mass.
Scalation:
Overlapping (imbricate). 34-73 (mean 54) dorsal crest scales (along the backbone). Ventral scales
(on the chest) vary from smooth to tectiform (plate-like). Nuchal scales (on the back of the neck)
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Code A-303.010.028.002
1989 (1)
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may be smooth or much enlarged. Dorsal crest scales on the upper back are slender, tapered, 2-3
cm long, curve backwards, and separated from adjacent scales at their base.
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Text: Jeffrey P. Jorgenson and F. Wayne King, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Drawings: Wendy Zomlefer and F. Wayne King, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Order Sauria / Family Iguanidae
Iguana iguana
3
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Colour:
Mostly green (varying from olive green to emerald green), becoming darker or greyer with age. The
head of the male may vary from pale grey and pink to orange and black. Dark, transverse bands on
the back extending to the chest; rarely uniform colouration. Tail with dark crossbands.
Tail:
Two to three times longer than snout-vent length. Flattened on the sides.
Sexual dimorphism:
Males 10% larger than females, their heads are relatively larger with respect to body size, and the
dorsal crest on the back is better developed (about 5-8 cm). The colouration of males is more red,
yellow, and orange than the predominantly greenish females.
Juvenile:
Bright emerald green in colour.
Distribution:
West Indies: Barbados
(extirpated), Dominica (probably
absent), French Antilles group
(Guadeloupe), Grenada,
Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles
group (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao,
Klein Bonaire, Saba), St. Lucia,
St. Vincent, Trinidad and
Tobago, U.S. and British Virgin
Islands. (Also see islands of
Colombia, Honduras, and
Venezuela, below.)
North America: Mexico (south
from Sinaloa and Veracruz).
Central America: Belize, Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras [including Swan
Island (Isla Cisne)], Nicaragua,
Panama.
South America: Bolivia, Brazil
(except southern portions),
Colombia (including the islands
of San Andres, Isla Gorgona,
and Providencia), Ecuador,
French Guiana, Guyana, Peru,
northern Paraguay, Suriname,
Venezuela (including offshore
islands).
Note: The dots represent
offshore islands where the
species occurs.
Population:
Wild population:
Few data available; generally declining in numbers. Locally abundant, but becoming rare due to
predation and egg collection.
Captive population:
Common in zoos and private collections.
Trade:
Main exporting states (1984): Guatemala (19,850 live specimens), El Salvador (13,737 live), a
(7,591 live), and Suriname (3,960 Guyanlive). About 45,000 live specimens (mostly young)
exported annually by CITES Parties during 1980-1984. No reported trade in skins in 1984. Annual
world trade prior to CITES listing was several hundred thousand individuals. Both the eggs and
meat are consumed by local people.
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Code A-303.010.028.002
1989 (1)
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Intraspecific variation:
Only two species (one with two subspecies) of iguanas in the genus Iguana.
Iguana iguana iguana lacks blade-like spines on the snout.
Distribution: West Indies, southern Costa Rica south to northern Paraguay and southeastern Brazil.
Iguana iguana rhinolopha possesses a median row of 2-3 blade-like spines on the snout.
Distribution: From southern Mexico (Sinaloa and Veracruz) to southern Costa Rica.
Some authorities do not recognize these subspecies because the differences separating them are
not always clear and consistent.
Similar species:
Iguana delicatissima see sheet A-303.010.028.001) has a reduced dewlap with few (4-10) fringed
spines and lacks a large scale below the ear (subtympanic plate; present in l. iguana). Row of
escutcheon-like (shield-like) scales often present on the lower jaw adjacent to the lip scales (throat
scales uniform in l. iguana).
Distribution: Lesser Antilles of the West Indies.
Cyclura spp. (see sheet A-303.010.019.000) has comb plates on the underside of the hind foot.
Distribution: Bahamas, British Virgin Islands (Anegada only), Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican
Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Turks and Caicos, United States of America (Navassa Island; Mona
Island, off Puerto Rico).
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Text: Jeffrey P. Jorgenson and F. Wayne King, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Drawings: Wendy Zomlefer and F. Wayne King, Gainesville, Florida, USA
Order Sauria / Family Iguanidae
Iguana iguana
5
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Bibliography:
Dunn, E.R. (1934). Notes on Iguana. Copeia No. 1, 1 fig. + 4 pp.
Burghardt, G.M., and A.S. Rand (eds.) (1982). Iguanas of the world: their behavior, ecology and
conservation. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, xix + 472 pp. (Good colour plates of
many iguanids)
Fitch, H.S. (1977). Age and sex differences, reproduction, and conservation of Iguana iguana.
Contributions in biology and geology, No. 13. Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, WI, 21
pp.
Lazell, J.D. (1973). The lizard genus Iguana in the Lesser Antilles. Bulletin of the Museum of
Comparative Zoology 145:1-28.
Minton, S.A., Jr., and M.R. Minton (1973). Giant reptiles. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, viii +
345 pp.
Peters, J.A., and R. Donoso-Barros (1970). Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata: Part II. Lizards
and Amphisbaenians. U.S. National Museum Bulletin No. 297, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, DC, viii + 293 pp.
Schmidt, K.P., and R.F. Inger (1957). Living reptiles of the world. Hanover House, Doubleday &
Co., Inc., Garden City, NY, 287 pp.
Schwartz, A., and R.W. Henderson (1985). A guide to the identification of the amphibians and
reptiles of the West Indies exclusive of Hispaniola. Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee,
WI, 165 pp.
Schwartz, A., and R. Thomas (1975). A check-list of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Carnegie
Museum of Natural History, Special Publication No. 1, 216 pp.
Swanson, P.L. (1950). The iguana Iguana iguana iguana (L). Herpetologica 6(7):187-193.
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Code A-303.010.028.002
1989 (1)