Man and his domestic animals are inevitably destroying the iguanas' environments and their species. The domestic animals such as cows devour most of the vegetation, which are the food sources for the iguanas. Their flesh is relished in many parts of the world but it is not overly exploited. In parts of South America iguanas are hunted by men imitating the screams of hawks. The iguanas' reaction to the cries is to "freeze" and they are then easily caught (Murphy 1989).
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
No documented example
The spiny-tailed iguana is edible and is a popular food for much of the rural population of Central America. In some areas, eating their flesh is considered potent "medicine", with the person deriving the iguana's strength after eating it. Also, the spiny-tailed iguanas are supposed to be a cure for impotence (Kaplan 2000).
The ctenosaur is generally herbivorous, particularly on legume fruits, but is also known to have a diverse carnivorous diet that consist of small animals. Ctenosaurs have eaten rodents, bats, frogs, small birds, and a variety of insects. They have even been noted to eat eggs of their own young, and in one case, the tail of a juvenile was found inside an adult male, suggesting cannibalism. Youngsters are primarily insectivorous, switching into herbivorous habits as adults. (Murphy 1989; Roberts and Roberts 1993)
Ctenosaura similis is found throughout Mexico, large areas in Central America, and islands adjacent to Panama (Halliday and Adler 1992).
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
These lizards are great diggers and baskers. They are found around ruins, stone walls, rocky open slopes and branches of large trees along the open borders of the forests. They generally live in dry, arid, open terrain. (Ervin 1992)
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest
Average lifespan
Sex: male
Status: captivity: 4.8 years.
The ctenosaurs are large, bulky lizards with adult males reaching up to 18 inches long with a 18-inch tail. They are predominantly black but the dorsal surface may show black bands on a greyish background. Most have black mottling on their backs. The color may also ligthen after basking in the sunlight with yellowish and orange markings becoming evident along the sides. Adult males and females are dimorphic. Adult males have well developed dorsal crests and small dewlaps. The dewlap, the crescent of skin that can be extended under the throat, is not inflated. A small bone bows out to extend the dewlap during times of threat, courtship, or while defending territory. Females lack obvious crests. There is considerable variation with age and sex and therefore identification may be difficult. The lizards have tails ringed with rows of sharp, curved spines, hence the name spiny-tailed iguana. The spines down the back are short. Juveniles tend to be olive-green becoming tan and then finally greyish as they grow (Grzimek 1990; Roberts and Roberts 1993; Cogger and Zweifel 1998).
Range mass: 0 to 0 kg.
Average mass: 1 kg.
This species becomes sexually mature at around 3 or 4 years of age. They congregate and mate during specific times of year that varies between populations. Male iguanas possess a pair of intromittent organs, the hemipenes. When not in use the hemipenes lie adjacent to the cloaca within the base of the tail.
During sexual activity one hemipenes is everted by the action of muscles and fills with blood. In copulation, which follows courtship behavior, only a single hemipenis is inserted into the female's cloaca, and the sperm travel along a groove in the hemipenis. Retraction of the hemipenis is accomplished by drainage of the blood sinuses and activation of retractor muscles that invert the structure as it is withdrawn.
In breeding season, the oviparous females then migrate to suitable areas to nest. After digging a burrow about half a meter deep, the female lays 2 to 25 eggs in the nest. She then defends the burrow for some time to prevent other females from nesting in the same spot. The young iguanas hatch 3 to 4 months later and then take about a week to dig their way out of the nest. These tiny iguanas can easily fit in the palm of a hand. If they survive the first difficult years of life, when food is often scarce and predators such as hawks and owls are dangers, these iguanas can live more than 60 years. (Whitfield 1984; Burton 1972; Halliday and Adler 1992)
Ctenosaura similis, commonly known as the black iguana[3] or black spiny-tailed iguana, is a lizard native to Mexico and Central America. It has been reported in some Colombian islands in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, and has been introduced to the United States in the state of Florida. It is the largest species in the genus Ctenosaura. They are typically found in areas such as grasslands and forests.
The black spiny-tailed iguana was first described by British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1831.[4] The generic name, Ctenosaura, is derived from two Greek words: ctenos (Κτενός), meaning "comb" (referring to the comblike spines on the lizard's back and tail), and saura (σαύρα), meaning "lizard".[5] Its specific name is the Latin word similis meaning "similar to", a common description found in Linnean taxonomy when referring to a new taxon.[6]
Black spiny-tailed iguana have distinctive black, keeled scales on their long tails, which gives them their common name.[7] They, along with C. pectinata, are the largest members of the genus Ctenosaura. The males are capable of growing up to 1.3 meters (4 ft 3 in) in length and the females are slightly shorter, at 0.8–1 meter (2 ft 7 in – 3 ft 3 in).[5] They have a crest of long spines which extends down the center of the back.[7] Although coloration varies extremely among individuals of the same population, adults usually have a whitish gray or tan ground color with a series of 4–12 well-defined dark dorsal bands that extend nearly to the ventral scales.[7] Males also develop an orange color around the head and throat during breeding season with highlights of blue and peach on their jowls.[5][7]
Black spiny-tailed iguanas are excellent climbers, and prefer a rocky habitat with plenty of crevices to hide in, rocks to bask on, and nearby trees to climb.[5] They are diurnal and fast moving, employing their speed to escape predators but will lash with their tails and bite if cornered.[5] The Guinness Book of World Records lists this as the world's fastest lizard, with a maximal sprint speed of 34.6 kilometres per hour (21.5 mph).[5][8]
They are primarily herbivorous, eating flowers, leaves, stems, and fruit, but they will opportunistically eat smaller animals (rodents, bats, frogs, small birds and smaller iguanas), eggs and arthropods.[5][9] Juveniles tend to be insectivores, becoming more herbivorous as they get older.[10] They are known to eat the fruit and live in the limbs of the manchineel, a tree highly poisonous to most other animals.[11] González-García et al. 2009 find that abundance is highly dependent on 3 dimensional structure of landscape, tall vegetation not merely short grass.[12]
The black spiny-tailed iguana is native to southern Mexico and Central America, ranging from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec southward to Panama, occurring at sea level to ca. 1,320 meters elevation, but it is absent from interior highlands.[13] Its distribution is irregular and discontinuous on the Atlantic versant where it ranges through portions of Tabasco, northern Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo in Mexico, much of Belize, Guatemala,[14][15] and the northern coast of Honduras (often following rivers into interior valleys and canyons),[16] but with only a few isolated and disjunct records southward in eastern Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.[13][17] On the Pacific coast its distribution is continuous from extreme southeast Oaxaca and southern Chiapas, Mexico, south through Guatemala, El Salvador,[18] Honduras,[16] Nicaragua, Costa Rica,[17] to the Azuero Peninsula in Panama.[13][19]
It is also found on many Caribbean and Pacific islands including: Isla Aguada, Isla Contoy, Cozumel, and Isla Mujeres in Mexico;[15][20] Ambergris Caye, Glover's Reef, Half Moon Caye, Belize;[15] Isla de Utila, Guanaja, Roatán, and the islands in the Golfo de Fonseca, Honduras;[16][20][21] Isla de Maíz Grande (Corn Islands) Nicaragua;[17][20] Coiba Island[19] and Isla del Rey, Panamá;[20] Isla San Andrés and Providencia, Colombia.[17][20][22][23] Its status on a few of these islands, as a native or invasive species is questionable. Some herpetologist presume dispersal to the Islas San Andrés and Providencia, Colombia occurred in the Quaternary,[23] while another suspects these and some other insular populations are "likely" human introductions.[16] It has been introduced and is now established in southern Florida, a few islands in the Bahamas, Malpelo Island, Colombia,[16] and Venezuela.[24]
The black spiny-tailed iguana has been introduced to South Florida and reproduces in the wild in several feral populations. On the southwestern Florida coast, it has been discovered from Collier County north to Tampa Bay.[25][26][27] On the southeastern Florida coast, black spiny-tailed iguanas have been found on Key Biscayne, Hialeah, and in Broward County. This iguana has also been introduced to several islands in the Caribbean.[28] As this species will opportunistically feed on small vertebrates, such as fish, rodents, eggs, birds, and even hatchling sea turtles it may pose a threat to endangered native species.[26]
Mating generally occurs in the spring. Males show dominance and interest by head bobbing; eventually the male will chase the female until he can catch her and subdue her.[5] Within eight to ten weeks, the female will dig a nest and lay clutches of up to 30 eggs.[5] The eggs hatch in 90 days with the hatchlings digging their way out of the sand.[5] These juveniles are typically green with brown markings, although all brown hatchlings have been recorded as well.[7]
In some parts of Central America, the black spiny-tailed iguana, colloquially called the "chicken of the trees," is farmed alongside the green iguana as a food source and for export for the pet trade[5] [see iguana meat]. Although it is heavily hunted it does not appear to be endangered in any of its native territory.
A basking female on the island of Cozumel in Quintana Roo, Mexico)
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A male eating a flower in southern Mexico
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A juvenile from Rincon de la Vieja, Costa Rica
Ctenosaura similis, commonly known as the black iguana or black spiny-tailed iguana, is a lizard native to Mexico and Central America. It has been reported in some Colombian islands in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, and has been introduced to the United States in the state of Florida. It is the largest species in the genus Ctenosaura. They are typically found in areas such as grasslands and forests.
