THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY


Reptilia    Squamata (part)    Iguanidae  

Green Iguana
Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758)

Current SSAR Comments:
Native to Central and South America. It was introduced via the pet trade during the 1960s in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida and is established throughout much of southern Florida, including the Florida Keys (King and Krakauer, 1966, Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 29: 144–154; Wilson and Porras, 1983, University of Kansas Special Publication : 1–89; Enge and Krysko, 2019, Iguana iguana. Pages 388–391 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida), and 1950s on O’ahu, Hawai'i (McKeown, 1996, A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Incorporated, Los Osos, California), and Texas (Meshaka et al., 2004, The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. Krieger, Melbourne, Florida).

Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.23.01.39)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.15 MB

First instance(s) of published English names:
Guana (Lacertus indicus: Catesby, Mark. 1754. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands: Containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants: Particularly the Forest-trees, Shrubs, and other Plants, not Hitherto Described, or Very Incorrectly Figured by Authors. Together with Their Descriptions in English and French. To which, are Added Observations on the Air, Soil, and Waters: with Remarks upon Agriculture, Grain, Pulse, Roots, &c. To the Whole, is Prefixed a New and Correct Map of the Countries Treated of. , London. pp.); Guano Lizard (Lacerta iguana: Forster, John R. 1771. A systematic catalogue of all the known plants of English North-America or, a flora Americae Septentrionalis. Pages in From Forster's translation of Bossu, Travels through that part of North America formerly called Louisiana, Vol. 1. T. Davies, London, England. pp.); The Guana (Lacerta iguana: Pennant, Thomas. 1785. Artic Zoology. Henry Hughs, London. pp.); Guana Lizard (Lacerta iguana: Pennant, Thomas. 1785. Artic Zoology. Henry Hughs, London. pp.); Common Guana (Iguana tuberculata: Gray, John E. 1830. A synopsis of the species of the class reptilia. Pages 1-110 in The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with its Organization by the Baron Cuvier, member of teh Institute of France, with Additional Descriptions of all the Species Hitherto Named, and of many not before noticed. Ninth Volume. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London, England. pp.); Common American Iguana (Lacerta iguana: Griffith, Edward and Edward Pidgeon. 1831. The class reptilia arranged by the Baron Cuvier, with specific descriptions. Part 2. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London. 1-481pp.); Common American Iguana (Lacerta tuberculata: Griffith, Edward and Edward Pidgeon. 1831. The class reptilia arranged by the Baron Cuvier, with specific descriptions. Part 2. Whittaker, Treacher, and Company, London. 1-481pp.);

Taxon Links:

  
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
  
The Reptile Database
  
NatureServe
  
iNaturalist
  
GenBank
  
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

Pertinent LIterature:
1758 Linné, Carl von (=Linneaus). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. [System of Nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species with characters, differences, synonyms, places.] 10th Edition, Volume 1, L. Salvius, Stockholm. iv + 826pp.
1966 King, F. Wayne and Thomas Krakauer. The exotic herpetofauna of southeast Florida. Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 29(2):144–154
1983 Wilson, Larry D. and Louis Porras. The ecological impact of man on the South Florida herpetofauna. University of Kansas Special Publication (9):1-89
1996 McKeown, Sean. A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians in the Hawaiian Islands. Diamond Head Publishing, Inc., Los Osos, California. pp.
2004 Meshaka, Walter E. Jr., B. P. Butterfield, and H. T. Smith. The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. Krieger, Melbourne, Florida. pp.

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Thursday 30 January 2025 02:29 CT