Green Iguana (not on display)
Iguana iguana
- Habitat and Range: Large distributional range including Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands
- Natural Diet: Fruits, flowers, shoots, buds, leaves and insects
- Satus in the wild: Common
Fun Facts
- Green Iguanas are highly
arboreal living in trees. They have long tails that longer than their bodies that help them balance
- They are green in color that helps them
camouflage and hide from their predators. They also have spines on their back to protect them from predators
- If they are caught by the tail by a predator, their tail will detach from the body. The detached tail will continue to move to distract the predator giving the reptile an opportunity to escape
- They are excellent swimmers
- They have excellent vision and can see great distances away. They also have a third eye on their forehead which cannot see images but can sense movement
Conservation Threats
- The major threats are habitat loss, some agricultural practices, and logging trees for firewood.
- Illegal hunting for their meat and eggs for consumption also has a detrimental influence on their wild numbers
The males have spines and a flap of skin along the neck
Distributional range in the Americas