Iguanas in the Wild

If you want to see pictures of wild iguanas, click HERE

  The common green iguana is found extensively in Central America.  A few scattered populations have been introduced in Florida.  The green iguana is found in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatamala, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, and other Central American countries.  These iguanas are aboreal and are commonly found in dense humid tropical forests canopies and trees.  They tend to stay near a large source of water such as a river.  If they sense danger, they will leap down and swim to the bottom of the river and hide.

    Iguanas are herbivores.  They bask in direct sunlight during the majority of the day and feed on the local fauna.  Young iguanas are bright green to help camoflauge them.  Juveniles tend to live near the ground.   Adults tend to be duller in color and live high up in the canopies of trees.   In the wild, iguanas are prey to big birds and many large mammals.  They defend themselves with their long wip-like tail and sharp claws.  A captured iguana will not hesitate to bite tenaciously. 

    Iguanas have a complex social structure.  The alpha males tend to have the best basking perches and get to mate with the females.   During mating season, the males compete for mating rights by an elaborate show of head bobing, push-ups, flaring their dewlaps, and lateral compression.  Iguanas are also territorial and will defend their territory against other iguanas.

    In Mexico, Iguanas are becoming more popular as a delicacy.  They are sometimes found tied up and sold along with chickens, goats, and pigs.  This popularity has led to a drop in iguana population.  Along with the contiunual destruction of the rain forests, the iguana is facing major threats to its survival. 

    Iguanas, in my opinion, are one of the most intelligent lizards.  Their social stucture and behavior make them a well adapted species that can survive on Earth.  That is...without the threat of humankind. 

    NOTE:  I have heard that most iguanas that pet shops sell are wild caught from Mexico and other Central American countries.  The reason for this is that a wild iguana costs much less than a captive breed one in the United States.  This leads to a furthur decline in the wild iguana population.   This is a sad trend since many of these wild caught iguanas are not properly shipped to the U.S. and many of them die before they reach their destination.   Furthurmore, wild caught iguanas harder to tame and socialize for the owner.

Taxonomy

    This section is about the scientific classification of your pet.  Scientists use a system of taxonomy to classify everything on the planet.   Iguanas included.  The rules are very simple.  You go from large catagory down to small catagories.  Every living thing is located somewhere under lots of catagories.  AND taxonomists use weird latin names instead of common names.

Where is your pet?

Kingdom:   Animilia (Animal..DUH!)

Phylum:  Chordata  (They have a backbone)

Class:  Reptilia (Fancy name for Reptiles!)

Order:  Squamata (And no this doesn't mean they squat!)

Suborder:  Sauria  (Pronounced Sorry-ea)

Family:  Iguanadae  (Finally..somthing reconizable!)

Genus:  Iguana

Species:  Iguana

That is where your pet is located on the taxonomic tree!  Iguanas are animals so they are under kingdom animal.  They have a backbone so they are under phylum chordata.  They are under the Class Reptilia because they are reptiles.   Under that it starts to get complicated.  The Class Reptiles has many orders which range from Testudines(Turtles) to Crocodylia(Crocodiles).   The order that your pet is under is Squamata which means "having scales."   Under that order there are two suborders:  Sauria (lizards) and Serpentes (Snakes).  Since iguanas are lizards they are under suborder sauria.  Under the suborder Sauria there are many families of lizards such as Gekkonidae (Geckos), Anguidae (Glass Lizards), and lots more.  Iguanas are under the family Iguanidae.  Under the family Iguanidae, there are many genuses.  One of which is Iguana.  Under this genus, there are only two species.  The iguana iguana and the iguana delicatissima.  The latter is the Antiles Iguana which looks very similar to the iguana iguana (your pet) except that it doesn't have a subtympanic scale.   (This scale is the really big one that is on the sides of the iguana's head.)   And last the species of your pet is iguana.  In conclusion you have an iguana iguana.  How convinient to remember.  Okay...now for humans! 

Where are you?

Kingdom:  Animila  (I hope so)

Phylum:  Chordata  (We too have backbones)

Class:  Mammalia

Order:  Primata

Suborder:  -----

Family:  Hominidae

Genus:  Homo

Species: Sapiens

Thats what we are classified as.