Size: 5 feet to 6'6" and weighing about 11
pounds.
Appearance: The Common iguana is a large heavy
bodied lizard.
It has a row of spines that runs from their neck and extends to
their tails. Their tails are about half of the lizards total
length. It can be used to deliver a painful blow when threatened.
Like many other lizards, the iguana can allow the tail to break, so
it can escape and eventually will regenerate a new one.
Iguanas have well developed dewlaps under their chin which helps
regulate their body temperature. It is also used in courtships and
territorial display towards other males.
Common iguanas have excellent vision, enabling them to detect
shapes, color and motions at long distances.
Green iguanas have an organ on top their head called the
parietal eye. This "eye" does not see but is sensitive to changes
in light and dark and can detect movement. This helps the iguana
detect predators from above.
Behavior &
Natural History: Green iguanas are diurnal,
arboreal, and are often found near water. When threatened
they can dive into the water and are excellent swimmers. They
propel through the water with their powerful tails.
Diet: Green
iguanas are primarily plant eaters, herbivores. They feed on
leaves, flowers, fruit, and growing shoots of many different
plants.
There is evidence of wild iguanas eating grasshoppers and tree
snails, usually as a byproduct of eating plant material. Some adult
Green iguanas have been observed eating bird's eggs.
Reproduction: Female Green
iguanas lay one clutches of 20 to 71 eggs once per year. The eggs
hatch after 10-15 weeks of incubation.
Range:The
green iguana ranges over a large geographic area, from southern
Brazil and Paraguay to as far north as Mexico and the Caribbean
Islands; and in the United States as feral populations in South
Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, and the Rio Grande
Valley of Texas.
I want to thank
killkudzu
for allowing me to use the picture.