Phylogenic Tree Information:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class: Reptillia
Order: Squamata
Genus: Iguanidae
Species: I. iguana
Scientific Name: Iguana Iguana
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum : Chordata
Class: Reptillia
Order: Squamata
Genus: Iguanidae
Species: I. iguana
Scientific Name: Iguana Iguana
Description:
The green iguana can weigh up to 18 pounds and can reach a length of five to seven feet. The green iguana has a long body covered with soft leathery scales, a long tail and short legs. Its hard, long tail is used as a weapon and for balance when climbing. It has a greenish-gray color and can change color slightly (but not nearly as well as some lizards, such as chameleons). Female and juvenile male iguanas are a much brighter green than an adult male. It has feet with five very long toes with sharp claws on the ends, used especially for climbing. The iguana has a row of spines that extend along its back from the base of its head all the way to the tip of its tail, descending in size from head to tail. It also has a dorsal crest at the base of its head and a dewlap underneath its chin. The iguana also has a row of sharp serrated teeth.
Habitat:
The green iguanas native environment ranges from from Southern Mexico to central Brazil, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Bolivia and the Caribbean. They have been previously introduced to Grand Cayman, Purto Rico, Texas, Florida, Hawii, and the United States Virgin Islands. Green iguanas are diurnal (awake during day and sleep at night), and are often found near water. Agile climbers, Iguanas can fall up to 50 feet and land unhurt. Living in these environment Iguanas have learned to use their hind leg claws to clasp leaves and branches to break a fall. During cold, wet weather, green iguanas prefer to stay on the ground for greater warmth. When swimming, an iguana remains submerged, letting its four legs hang limply against its side. They propel through the water with powerful tail strokes.Green iguanas will thrive only in temperatures of 80°F to about 95°F and must have appropriate sources of UVB and UVA lighting, or else their bodies cannot produce vitamin D that promotes calcium absorption, which can result in a metabolic bone disease that can be fatal. Puerto Rico has a diversity of unique terrestrial and marine ecosystems including coastal mangrove forest, seagrass beds, coral reefs, tropical rain forests, tropical dry forest, and coastal plains.
Niche:
Green Iguanas are primarily herbivores, with captives feeding on leaves such a turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, flowers, and fruit. In Puerto Rico, the iguanas overrun the island, quickly displacing native herbivores, invading natural rainforests and destroying backyards and gardens. Juvenile iguanas often eat feces from adults in order to acquire the essential microflora (micro organisms that help digest food, in this case vegetation.) to digest their low-quality and hard to process vegetation. When foraging, the iguana returns to the same foraging site day after day. Its food intake decreases when it changes foraging sites. It gets water from catching rain and condensation on the flowers and leaves of trees, but most comes from the food it eats. It occasionally eats insects along with the vegetation. In the spring the iguana eats leaves of plants in the bean family that are high in protein. A young iguana eats mostly insects (since it can hardly digest vegetation). The young are small and potential prey for larger predators including larger iguanas.
Varied Traits:
The varied traits among green iguanas aren't that significant. The trait green iguanas are most known to be changed by the environment is the color. Green iguanas aren't necessarily green, colors for green iguanas range from green (of course) all he way to black on the color spectrum. For example in the Western region of Puerto Rico the green iguanas are often red in color. This trait varies on the environmental status and the amount of UVB and UVA lighting. If green iguanas lack these light conditions it will cause them to loose their bright colors and cause them to turn black to absorb more sun light. Skin color also depends on an iguanas mood. Although green iguanas may have the ability to change color slightly, chameleons will be the ones to change colors more frequently and at ease. Green iguanas like any other close related iguana have the tendency to swim if the circumstance calls on them to do so. Iguanas are natural born swimmers but the speed and holding of breath varies on the amount of practice a certain individual had. Some iguanas prefer to live in the forest type of environment than an open environment and the reason for this is the amount of vegetation and water in the forest environment than in an open environment.
The green iguana can weigh up to 18 pounds and can reach a length of five to seven feet. The green iguana has a long body covered with soft leathery scales, a long tail and short legs. Its hard, long tail is used as a weapon and for balance when climbing. It has a greenish-gray color and can change color slightly (but not nearly as well as some lizards, such as chameleons). Female and juvenile male iguanas are a much brighter green than an adult male. It has feet with five very long toes with sharp claws on the ends, used especially for climbing. The iguana has a row of spines that extend along its back from the base of its head all the way to the tip of its tail, descending in size from head to tail. It also has a dorsal crest at the base of its head and a dewlap underneath its chin. The iguana also has a row of sharp serrated teeth.
Habitat:
The green iguanas native environment ranges from from Southern Mexico to central Brazil, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Bolivia and the Caribbean. They have been previously introduced to Grand Cayman, Purto Rico, Texas, Florida, Hawii, and the United States Virgin Islands. Green iguanas are diurnal (awake during day and sleep at night), and are often found near water. Agile climbers, Iguanas can fall up to 50 feet and land unhurt. Living in these environment Iguanas have learned to use their hind leg claws to clasp leaves and branches to break a fall. During cold, wet weather, green iguanas prefer to stay on the ground for greater warmth. When swimming, an iguana remains submerged, letting its four legs hang limply against its side. They propel through the water with powerful tail strokes.Green iguanas will thrive only in temperatures of 80°F to about 95°F and must have appropriate sources of UVB and UVA lighting, or else their bodies cannot produce vitamin D that promotes calcium absorption, which can result in a metabolic bone disease that can be fatal. Puerto Rico has a diversity of unique terrestrial and marine ecosystems including coastal mangrove forest, seagrass beds, coral reefs, tropical rain forests, tropical dry forest, and coastal plains.
Niche:
Green Iguanas are primarily herbivores, with captives feeding on leaves such a turnip greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, flowers, and fruit. In Puerto Rico, the iguanas overrun the island, quickly displacing native herbivores, invading natural rainforests and destroying backyards and gardens. Juvenile iguanas often eat feces from adults in order to acquire the essential microflora (micro organisms that help digest food, in this case vegetation.) to digest their low-quality and hard to process vegetation. When foraging, the iguana returns to the same foraging site day after day. Its food intake decreases when it changes foraging sites. It gets water from catching rain and condensation on the flowers and leaves of trees, but most comes from the food it eats. It occasionally eats insects along with the vegetation. In the spring the iguana eats leaves of plants in the bean family that are high in protein. A young iguana eats mostly insects (since it can hardly digest vegetation). The young are small and potential prey for larger predators including larger iguanas.
Varied Traits:
The varied traits among green iguanas aren't that significant. The trait green iguanas are most known to be changed by the environment is the color. Green iguanas aren't necessarily green, colors for green iguanas range from green (of course) all he way to black on the color spectrum. For example in the Western region of Puerto Rico the green iguanas are often red in color. This trait varies on the environmental status and the amount of UVB and UVA lighting. If green iguanas lack these light conditions it will cause them to loose their bright colors and cause them to turn black to absorb more sun light. Skin color also depends on an iguanas mood. Although green iguanas may have the ability to change color slightly, chameleons will be the ones to change colors more frequently and at ease. Green iguanas like any other close related iguana have the tendency to swim if the circumstance calls on them to do so. Iguanas are natural born swimmers but the speed and holding of breath varies on the amount of practice a certain individual had. Some iguanas prefer to live in the forest type of environment than an open environment and the reason for this is the amount of vegetation and water in the forest environment than in an open environment.
Disaster:
Puerto Rico is home to many many iguanas so many that they have become a nuisance. If a natural disaster were to occur and leave the environment totally destroyed can you imagine how this will affect its population of wildlife and vegetation? Puerto Rico is in-immune to hurricanes because of the fact that Puerto Rico is an island and we all know that islands are completely surrounded by water. Hurricanes from in the ocean if you may not have know this before. They form near the equator over warm ocean waters. Actually, the term hurricane is used only for the large storms that form over the Atlantic Ocean or eastern Pacific Ocean. The generic, scientific term for these storms, wherever they occur, is tropical cyclone. Cyclones are categorized in scales of severity. If a typical cyclone 1 were to occur it would cause little or no damage to some trees and crops going at a speed of less than 125 km/h. A tropical cyclone category 2 causes small damages to homes and causes significant damage to crops, road signs, trees and vehicles going at a speed of about 125 - 164 km/h. A tropical cyclone category 3 causes some structural damage, vehicles are likely to be destroyed, and power failure is likely this tropical cyclone is going to speeds of about 165 - 224. Major damage starts to take place in the category 4 tropical cyclone, significant structural and roofing damage occurs, many vehicles have been destroyed and blown away, dangerous debris is airborne, power failures occur widespread, this cyclone travels at about 225 - 279 km/h. The most destructive cyclone is categorized as a 5 on the scale of severity, wide spread destruction occurs and the cyclone is traveling at speeds of more than 280 km/h.
Category 4 Cyclone:
If a category 4 cyclone were to occur on the island of Puerto Rico major destruction would take place. First human inhabited structures will be severely damaged causing humans to either die, find shelter, or flee from the island. The gusting winds of the cyclone will then blow trees down forcing the iguanas to flee. While all of this is happening water and debris is being blown around all over the island causing power outages. At this point iguanas are looking to find shelter in this intense environment. Considering green iguanas know how to swim and hold their breath for a long period of time, only the more skilled swimmers have survived. A mass of the green iguana population has been wiped out of the Puerto Rico population, only about 1/3 remain.
What happens Next?
Most of the tree and vegetation population have also been decreased to small numbers. Since there is a lack of vegetation this causes the green iguanas to develop a new diet of small insects and small marine organisms. During this time of change green iguanas have also developed small gills to extend the time of breath holding underwater. The colors of the green iguanas remain dark brown to black because of too much sunlight they receive during the day (there are no trees). Green iguanas will grow thicker and shorter claws to be able to attach to sea corral and stay mounted while trying to eat or escape predators. Green iguanas have also decreased in size in order to swim swiftly in the water and have small stomachs to stay alive with little to no food. All of these new adaptation will start to occur roughly around 40-50 years after the cyclone had occurred.
How it will look...
Resources:
1.) "The Iguana Mind and Potential Behavior." The Iguana Mind and Potential Behavior. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
2.) "Getting the basics about iguanas."- For Dummies. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015
3.) "Green Iguanas, Green Iguana Pictures, Green Iguana Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
4.) "Iguana Iguana (Common Green Iguana)." Animal Diversity Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
5.) "Green Iguana Videos, Photos and Facts." - Iguana Iguana. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
6.) "About Tropical Cyclones." About Tropical Cyclones. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
7.) "Unit of Measureconversions Equivalences." Cyclone Severity Categories. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
1.) "The Iguana Mind and Potential Behavior." The Iguana Mind and Potential Behavior. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
2.) "Getting the basics about iguanas."- For Dummies. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015
3.) "Green Iguanas, Green Iguana Pictures, Green Iguana Facts - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
4.) "Iguana Iguana (Common Green Iguana)." Animal Diversity Web. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
5.) "Green Iguana Videos, Photos and Facts." - Iguana Iguana. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
6.) "About Tropical Cyclones." About Tropical Cyclones. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2015.
7.) "Unit of Measureconversions Equivalences." Cyclone Severity Categories. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.