JAmaican iguana

Physical features

• Overall grey in color and somewhat greenish or blue.

• Bluish tints frame their face and on the crests of their spines

• The skin of Jamaican ground Iguana’s is often stained red by the iron-rich soil in its habitat (particularly females due to nesting)

• Weigh up to 13-20 lbs

• Sexually dimorphic; males are bigger than females with more prominent dorsal spines

Diet: Mostly Herbivore

• Leaves, fruits, flowers of a wide variety of plant species supplemented occasionally by animal matter, including snails and insects.

Reproduction

• Seasonal, communal nester

• Nesting occurs in underground burrows filled with loose soil

• Deposit eggs mid-June (85-87 days incubation)

• Clutch size: 6-20 eggs depending on size of female

• Only three communal known nesting sites occur in the wild- nests outside this site are exposed to high levels of predation and have nearly no success.

Interpretive Information

• The Jamaican iguana is one of the most endangered reptiles in the world.

• The Jamaican iguana is Jamaica’s largest native land animal.

• It was actually thought to be extinct in the 1940s but a tiny population was rediscovered in 1990

• Today the only known wild population consists of only 100 individuals (about 200-300 individuals in the world total)

• Their scientific name is Cyclura collei; Cyclura comes from the Greek words Cyclos meaning “circular” and urus meaning “tail” named after the thick ringed tail characteristic of all Cyclura iguanas. Collei is Latin for “hill” and refers to the regions in which it was once found.

• Although not considered marine organism, Jamaican Iguanas are excellent swimmers and can spend long periods of time in the water if necessary. This way they can survive floods and even hurricanes.

• This species may be important for seed dispersal in its habitat.

Updated April 2024