Green iguana
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Green iguana ( Iguana iguana ) |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The green iguana ( Iguana iguana ) is a representative of the iguanas (Iguanidae), whose habitat is in Central America and South America .
features
Green iguanas usually reach a head body length of 45 centimeters. With the tail together, the green iguana reaches lengths of two meters, sometimes 2.2 meters. The largest known specimen is eight feet long, weighs 10.5 kilograms and is on display in the Chicago Museum of Natural History. Most iguanas of this species are a maximum of 1.5 meters long, with the males being significantly larger and having significantly larger "spines" on their backs and tails. They live to be around 10 to 17 years old in captivity, but there have been reports of animals that lived to be 25 years old. This depends very much on the right diet in the iguana 's first years.
Male green iguanas in particular have a massive head, which is characterized by several characteristics: a large throat dewlap, which is 30% larger in males than in females, as well as cheeks in the area of the enlarged scales under the eardrum, which are due to muscle enlargement and the insertion of Adipose tissue is prominent in males.
Contrary to the name, Iguana iguana is not completely green, many animals are more greyish-green or have a strong influence of brown color. Male green iguanas also sometimes have red-orange colorations, increasingly in the limb area. Under certain circumstances, this can be food-dependent, because the animal also eats flower petals. The back crest of the green iguanas stretches from the neck to the tail and is on average 5 centimeters higher in the male than in the female.
Occurrence
The green iguana lives in Central America and in South America to Paraguay. Individual occurrences reach as far as the extreme south of the USA. In Florida, e.g. B. in the greater Miami area, the species is considered introduced and has meanwhile become a nuisance for many garden owners and nature. On individual islands in Florida (the so-called Keys) there are specimens well over 2 meters in length due to the lack of natural enemies. It is absent on a number of Caribbean islands such as Cuba, but it has colonized the Lesser Antilles . On the other hand, the Green Island Guinea ( Iguana delicatissima ), a closely related species, lives on the Caribbean islands .
The preferred habitat of the green iguana are lowland forests near larger bodies of water. Green iguanas are pronounced flatland inhabitants and almost never exceed the altitude limit of 1000 meters.
Way of life
The green iguana is diurnal and primarily tree-dwelling, but it is also a good swimmer. On the run, he often drops from overhanging branches into the water, where he then swims away from the threat. The animals are very faithful to their location. They prefer high and dense vegetation with a lot of moisture as well as sun and shade places. Like lizards, they can shed their tail, and it will at least partially grow back.
The green iguana feeds exclusively on herbivores, i.e. H. herbivorous. Although it is often still claimed that it feeds partially on insects, the latest research has shown that in the wild it only feeds on leaves.
The males defend their territories with whip-like blows of their tail, which measures approx. 2/3 of the entire body length. They impress females primarily through threatening behavior, such as puffing their throat dewlap and nodding their head, or through lateral flattening, which makes them appear larger. The mating season occurs during the dry season in December and January. The males fix the female with a neck bite during mating. Three to four weeks after mating, the female lays her 30 to 45 eggs in a self-dug burrow. The hatchlings hatch about eight weeks later.
Green iguanas and people
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The green iguana is one of the most popular terrarium animals and is now being bred for this purpose on farms in South America. Due to their final size, most of these individuals are not allowed to keep them appropriately, as many buyers have no idea that the iguana, which is usually sold small, will later be up to 2 meters long. A terrarium of at least 200 × 150 × 200 centimeters is estimated for adult animals.
In some countries the green iguana has a culinary meaning. The meat from hunted animals is used as well as from animals kept on farms. They are called "green chickens" because the meat is reminiscent of chicken. A well-known dish with iguana is the sopa de garrobo.
Subspecies
There are two to four subspecies of the green iguana. The nominate form Iguana iguana iguana is widespread in the Lesser Antilles and South America, while Iguana iguana rhinolopha is native to Central America. Both taxa can be distinguished quite reliably by two to three small "horns" on the snout of Iguana iguana rhinolopha . In 2019 two subspecies were newly described, Iguana iguana insularis occurs in St. Vincent , the Grenadines and Grenada and Iguana iguana sanctaluciae is endemic to St. Lucia .
literature
- Gunther Köhler: The green iguana in the terrarium. Herpeton-Verlag Köhler, Offenbach 2004, ISBN 3-9806214-6-4 .
- Michael Schardt, Heiko Werning , Frank Mutschmann : Green iguanas. Natur- und Tier-Verlag, Münster 2009, ISBN 978-3-931587-93-2 .
- J. Rauh: Psychogenic egg fever in a green iguana (Iguana iguana rhinolopha). In: Draco. No. 4, 2001, ISSN 1439-8168 , pp. 70-72.
- Reinhard Rieger , Wilfried Westheide : Special zoology. Volume 2: Vertebrates or Skull Animals. Spectrum - Akademischer Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0900-4 .
- Manfred Rogner : Lizards. Volume 1: geckos, pinnipeds, agamas, chameleons and iguanas. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-8001-7248-8 .
supporting documents
- ↑ Breuil, Michel, Vuillaume, Barbara, Schikorski, David, Krauss, Ulrike, Morton, Matthew N., Haynes, Pius, Daltry, Jennifer C., Co, 2019, A story of nasal horns: two new subspecies of Iguana Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata, Iguanidae) in Saint Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, and Grenada (southern Lesser Antilles). Zootaxa 4608 (2), pp. 201-232: 212-218, doi: 10.11646 / zootaxa.4608.2.1
