Cyclura cychlura figginsi | |
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Exuma Island iguana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Iguania |
Family: | Iguanidae |
Genus: | Cyclura |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | C. c. figginsi |
Trinomial name | |
Cyclura cychlura figginsi | |
Synonyms [2] [3] | |
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Cyclura cychlura figginsi, known by the common name of guana [4] and sometimes called the Exuma Island iguana in the international literature, is a subspecies of the northern rock iguana, C. cychlura, that is found on the Exuma island chain in the Bahamas with an estimated wild population of 1,300 animals in 2004, it has been listed on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered. [1]
Cyclura cychlura figginsi is a subspecies of the northern Bahamian rock iguana, Cyclura cychlura . [1] Its subspecific name commemorates the American biologist J. D. Figgins.
In the late 19th century the American naturalist Charles Johnson Maynard mentioned that populations of iguanas still existed on the small island Bitter Guana Cay, being the namesake of the toponym, and he also mentioned that he thought it was possible this population could be named as a new species. [4] In 1923 Thomas Barbour obliged. In 1975 Albert Schwartz and Richard Thomas subsumed it as a subspecies of C. cychlura. [3] In their 1977 monograph on Cyclura, Schwartz and W. M. Carey explain that it is morphologically indistinguishable in squamation from other forms of C. cychlura.
This attains a total length of close to 1 m (3.3 ft). [1] Its coloration is dark-gray to black, with white or orange tinged scales on the head and snout depending upon which cay the iguana is from. [5]
This species is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females.
Cyclura cychlura figginsi is endemic to the Exuma Cays. This subspecies is found on at least seven small cays throughout the central and southern Exuma island chain of the Bahamas: Bitter Guana Cay, Gaulin Cay, White Bay Cay, Noddy Cay, North Adderly Cay, Leaf Cay, and Guana Cay. [5] The entire population on Leaf Cay was transferred to Pasture Cay in 2002. [6]
The iguana utilizes a variety of habitats from sandy beaches and xeric limestone devoid of vegetation to Bahamian dry forests. The iguanas use limestone crevices or sand burrows for retreats at night and in adverse weather conditions. [5]
Exuma Island iguanas display neither territorial nor hierarchical behaviour. [5] Adult iguanas have been observed basking in large groups without showing any signs of aggression toward one another. [5] Carey hypothesises that this lack of a social structure allows the population to remain dense under conditions of limited resources because hierarchical social systems on small cays retard genetic variation by restricting prime nesting sites, food supplies, and retreats to a few dominant males. [7] The longevity record in captivity for an Exuma Island iguana is twenty-three years, six months. [8]
The Exuma Island iguana, like most Cyclura species is primarily herbivorous, consuming leaves, flowers, berries, and fruits from over 100 plant species. [5] Favored food plants include seaside rock shrub ( Rachicallis americana ), darling plum ( Reynosia septentrionalis ), pride of big pine ( Strumpfia maritima ), joewood ( Jacquinia keyensis ), black torch ( Erithalis fruticosa ), seagrape ( Coccoloba uvifera ), silver thatch palm ( Coccothrinax argentata ), white stopper ( Eugenia axillaris ), bay cedar ( Suriana maritima ), and the rotting fruit of seven-year apple ( Casasia clusiifolia ). [1] They actively forage for the feces of the zenaida dove (Zenaida aurita) and white-crowned pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala). [5]
Mating occurs in May, and a clutch of three eggs is usually laid in June or July, in nests excavated in the sand. Females are known to guard these nest sites until they lay their eggs, after which they abandon them. [5]
The 2004 estimate of the current wild population is less than 1,300 animals, and it was said to have declined by at least 20% over the past 50 years. [1]
As with other rock iguanas, their habitat is in rapid decline due to development for tourism. [1] In 2004 a large-scale fire possibly caused by a tourist's cigarette was reported on an iguana-inhabited island. [1] In 1999 two Florida men were found guilty of smuggling protected reptile species into the US, including the Exuma Island iguana, Cyclura rileyi , and the Lesser Antillean iguana. [9] Feral pigs pose a threat to the Exuma Island iguanas, as they dig up eggs from iguana nests and feral dogs prey upon juvenile and adult iguanas. [1] Current population size is estimated at 1,300 and has declined by at least 20% over the past 50 years. [1]
Like all Bahamian rock iguanas, this species is protected in the Bahamas under the Wild Animals Protection Act of 1968. [1] Since 1995, Shedd Aquarium has allowed volunteers to help survey populations of Exuma Island iguanas as a form of ecotourism. Shedd maintains an in situ as well as an ex situ captive breeding program in order to breed this taxon. [9] In 2002, Shedd Aquarium translocated sixteen iguanas to the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park in an effort to establish the species in a protected area. [10]
The Bahamian Government has no official captive breeding or conservation program for the Exuma Island iguana. [1]
The Turks and Caicos rock iguana is a species of lizard endemic to the Turks and Caicos islands. This small iguana can reach 30 in (76 cm) and becomes mature at seven years and may live for twenty. A single clutch of up to nine eggs is laid each year, and these take three months to hatch. This iguana is mostly herbivorous, but supplements this by adding some animal matter to its diet.
The blue iguana, also known as the Grand Cayman ground iguana, Grand Cayman blue iguana or Cayman Island rock iguana, is an endangered species of lizard which is endemic to the island of Grand Cayman. It was previously considered to be a subspecies of the Cuban iguana, Cyclura nubila, but in a 2004 article Frederic J. Burton reclassified it as a separate species because according to him the genetic differences discovered four years earlier between the different C. nubila populations warranted this interpretation. The blue iguana is one of the longest-living species of lizard.
The Mona ground iguana is a critically endangered species of rock iguana, endemic to Mona Island, Puerto Rico. It is one of the island nation's few large land animals, and it is the largest endemic terrestrial lizard in the country, and one of the biggest rock iguanas within the Antilles. It was previously considered a subspecies of the rhinoceros iguana.
The Jamaican iguana, also known commonly as Colley's iguana, is a large species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species is endemic to Jamaica. It is critically endangered, even considered extinct between 1948 and 1990. Once found throughout Jamaica and on the offshore islets Great Goat Island and Little Goat Island, it is now confined to the forests of the Hellshire Hills.
The rhinoceros iguana is an endangered species of iguana that is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola and its surrounding islands. A large lizard, they vary in length from 60 to 136 centimetres, and skin colours range from a steely grey to a dark green and even brown. Their name derives from the bony-plated pseudo-horn or outgrowth which resembles the horn of a rhinoceros on the iguana's snout. It is known to coexist with the Ricord's iguana ; the two species are the only taxa of rock iguana to do so.
The northern Bahamian rock iguana is a species of lizard of the genus Cyclura that is found on Andros Island and the Exuma islands in the Bahamas. Its status on the IUCN Red List is vulnerable, with a wild population of less than 5,000 animals.
The Cuban rock iguana, also known as the Cuban ground iguana or Cuban iguana, is a species of lizard of the iguana family. It is the second largest of the West Indian rock iguanas, one of the most endangered groups of lizards. A herbivorous species with a thick tail and spiked jowls, it is one of the largest lizards in the Caribbean.
Cyclura ricordii, also known as Ricord's ground iguana or Ricord's rock iguana, is an endangered species of medium-sized rock iguana, a large herbivorous lizard. It is endemic to the island of Hispaniola. It is known to coexist with the nominate subspecies of the rhinoceros iguana ; the two species are the only taxa of rock iguana to do so. The natural habitats of its three subpopulations are hot, dry, wooded savanna on limestone with access to soil and sandy flats in southern Hispaniola. It is threatened by predation by introduced predators and habitat loss, due to overgrazing and charcoal manufacture.
The Acklins ground iguana, also commonly known as the Watling Island iguana, is an endangered subspecies of lizard of the genus Cyclura it is one of three subspecific forms of Cyclura rileyi in the family Iguanidae.
Cyclura rileyi, commonly known as the Bahamian rock iguana or the San Salvador rock iguana, is a critically endangered species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species is native to three island groups in the Bahamas, and is in decline due to habitat encroachment by human development and predation by feral dogs and cats. There are three subspecies: the Acklins ground iguana, the White Cay iguana, and the nominotypical subspecies.
The Andros Island iguana or Andros iguana is an endangered subspecies of Northern Bahamian rock iguana of the genus Cyclura that is found on Andros Island on the western edge of Grand Bahama. Its status is Endangered, with a wild population of 3,500 animals, and it can be found on the IUCN Red List.
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Cyclura cychlura inornata, the Allen Cays rock iguana or Allen Cays iguana, is a subspecies of the northern Bahamian rock iguana that is found on Allen's Cay and adjacent islands in the Bahamas. Its status in the IUCN Red List is critically endangered. The population has been growing over the last century. Although it was considered extinct in 1916, there are as of 2018 at least 482 mature adult animals counted on two islands, Leaf Cay and U Cay, and a few hundred on at least five other nearby islands where they have recently spread to by unknown means, as well as many juveniles.
Cyclura rileyi cristata, the White Cay iguana or Sandy Cay rock iguana, is a critically endangered subspecies of lizard of the genus Cyclura native to a single cay in the Bahamas: White Cay located in the Southern Exumas.
Cyclura is a genus of lizards in the family Iguanidae. Member species of this genus are commonly known as "cycluras" and only occur on islands in the West Indies. Rock iguanas have a high degree of endemism, with a single species or subspecies originating on an individual island.
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