Iguanidae - WikiHQ

The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana.

Taxonomy

Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphytidae). This family likely first appeared in Cenozoic, previously identified two Cretaceous genera (Pristiguana and Pariguana) are unlikely to belong to this family.

A phylogenetic tree of Iguaninae is shown here:

Distribution

All but one of the modern iguana genera are native to the Americas, ranging from the deserts of the Southwestern United States through Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, to throughout South America down to northernmost Argentina. Some iguanas like I. iguana have spread from their native regions of Central and South America into many Pacific Islands, and even to Fiji, Japan, and Hawaiʻi, due to the exotic pet trade and illegal introductions into the ecosystems. Other iguanas, like the Galapagos pink iguana (C. marthae) are endemic only to specific regions on the Galapagos islands. The Grand Cayman blue iguana, C. lewisi, is endemic only to the Grand Cayman island, limited to a small wildlife reserve.

Extant genera

{| class="wikitable"

! Image !! Genus !! Species

|175px || Amblyrhynchus – marine iguana ||

Amblyrhynchus cristatus — Marine iguana Bell, 1825

|175px || Brachylophus – Fijian/Tongan iguanas||

Brachylophus fasciatus — Lau banded iguana (Brongniart, 1800)
Brachylophus vitiensis — Fiji crested iguana Gibbons, 1981
Brachylophus bulabula — Fiji banded iguana Keogh, Edwards, Fisher, & Harlow, 2008
Brachylophus gau — Gau iguana Fisher, 2017

|175px || Cachryx – spinytail iguanas ||

Cachryx alfredschmidti — Campeche spiny-tailed iguana (Köhler, 1995)
Cachryx defensor — Yucatán spiny-tailed iguana (Cope, 1866)

|175px || Conolophus – Galápagos land iguanas||

Conolophus pallidus — Barrington land iguana Heller, 1903
Conolophus subcristatus — Galápagos land iguana (Gray, 1831)
Conolophus marthae — Galápagos pink land iguana Gentile & Snell, 2009

|175px || Ctenosaura – spiny-tailed iguanas||

Ctenosaura acanthura — Mexican spiny-tailed iguana Shaw, 1802
Ctenosaura alfredschmidti — Campeche spiny-tailed iguana (Köhler, 1995)
Ctenosaura bakeri — Baker's spiny-tailed iguana Stejneger, 1901
Ctenosaura clarki — Balsas spiny-tailed iguana Bailey, 1928
Ctenosaura conspicuosa — San Esteban spiny-tailed iguana (Dickerson, 1919)
Ctenosaura defensor — Yucatán spiny-tailed iguana (Cope, 1866)
Ctenosaura flavidorsalis Yellow-backed spiny-tailed iguana Köhler & Klemmer, 1994
Ctenosaura hemilopha — Baja California spiny-tailed iguana (Cope, 1863)
Ctenosaura macrolopha — Sonoran spiny-tailed iguana Smith, 1972
Ctenosaura melanosterna — Black-chested spiny-tailed iguana Buckley & Axtell, 1997
Ctenosaura nolascensis — Nolasco spiny-tailed iguana Smith, 1972
Ctenosaura oaxacana — Oaxacan spiny-tailed iguana Köhler & Hasbun, 2001
Ctenosaura oedirhina — Roatán spiny-tailed iguana De Queiroz, 1987
Ctenosaura palearis — Motagua spiny-tailed iguana Stejneger, 1899
Ctenosaura pectinata — Western spiny-tailed iguana (Wiegmann, 1834)
Ctenosaura quinquecarinata — Five-keeled spiny-tailed iguana (Gray, 1842)
Ctenosaura similis — Black spiny-tailed iguana (Gray, 1831)

|175px || Cyclura – West Indian rock iguanas||

Cyclura carinata — Turks and Caicos rock iguana Harlan, 1825
Cyclura carinata bartschi — Bartsch's iguana Cochran, 1931
Cyclura collei — Jamaican iguana Gray, 1845
Cyclura cornuta — Rhinoceros iguana (Bonnaterre, 1789)
†Cyclura cornuta onchiopsis — Navassa Island iguana
Cyclura cychlura — Northern Bahamian Rock Iguana (Cuvier, 1829)
Cyclura cychlura cychlura — Andros Island iguana (Cuvier, 1829)
Cyclura cychlura figginsi — Exuma Island iguana Barbour, 1923
Cyclura cychlura inornata — Allen Cays iguana (Barbour & Noble, 1916)
Cyclura lewisi — Blue iguana (Grant, 1940)
Cyclura nubila — Cuban iguana (Gray, 1831)
Cyclura nubila caymanensis — Lesser Caymans iguana (Barbour & Noble, 1916)
Cyclura pinguis — Anegada ground iguana Barbour, 1917
Cyclura ricordii — Ricord's iguana (Duméril & Bibron, 1837)
Cyclura rileyi — San Salvador iguana Stejneger, 1903
Cyclura rileyi rileyi — Central Bahamian Rock Iguana Stejneger, 1903
Cyclura rileyi cristata — White Cay iguana (Schmidt, 1920)
Cyclura rileyi nuchalis — Acklins iguana Barbour and Noble, 1916
Cyclura stejnegeri — Mona ground Iguana Barbour and Noble, 1916

|175px || Dipsosaurus – desert iguanas ||

Dipsosaurus dorsalis — Desert iguana (Baird and Girard, 1852)
Dipsosaurus catalinensis — Catalina desert iguana (Van Denburgh, 1922)

|175px || Iguana – green and Lesser Antillean iguanas||

Iguana delicatissima — Lesser Antillean iguana Laurenti, 1768
Iguana iguana — Green iguana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Iguana iguana insularis — Grenadines horned iguana
Iguana iguana melanoderma — Saban black iguana
Iguana iguana sanctaluciae — St. Lucia Horned Iguana

|175px || Sauromalus – chuckwallas ||

Sauromalus ater — Common chuckwalla Dumeril, 1856
Sauromalus hispidus — Angel Island chuckwalla Stejneger, 1891
Sauromalus klauberi — Spotted chuckwalla Shaw, 1941
Sauromalus slevini — Monserrat chuckwalla Van Denburgh, 1922
Sauromalus varius — Pinto chuckwalla Dickerson, 1919

Fossils

{| class="wikitable"

! Image !! Genus !! Species

|175px || Armandisaurus ||

Armandisaurus explorator

|175px || Lapitiguana ||

Lapitiguana impensa

|175px || Pumilia ||

Pumilia novaceki

Cretaceous Pristiguana brasiliensis and Pariguana lancensis are later excluded from the family.

Classification

Several classification schemes have been used to define the structure of this family. The "historical" classification recognized all New World iguanians, plus Brachylophus and the Madagascar oplurines, as informal groups and not as formal subfamilies.

Frost and Etheridge (1989) formally recognized these informal groupings as families.

Macey et al. (1997), in their analysis of molecular data for iguanian lizards recovered a monophyletic Iguanidae and formally recognized the eight families proposed by Frost and Etheridge (1989) as subfamilies of Iguanidae.

Schulte et al. (2003) reanalyzed the morphological data of Frost and Etheridge in combination with molecular data for all major groups of Iguanidae and recovered a monophyletic Iguanidae, but the subfamilies Polychrotinae and Tropidurinae were not monophyletic.

Townsend et al. (2011), Wiens et al. (2012) and Pyron et al. (2013), in the most comprehensive phylogenies published to date, recognized most groups at family level, resulting in a narrower definition of Iguanidae.

Historical classification

Family Iguanidae

Informal grouping anoloids: anoles, leiosaurs, Polychrus
Informal grouping basiliscines: casquehead lizards
Informal grouping crotaphytines: collared and leopard lizards
Informal grouping iguanines: marine, Fijian, Galapagos land, spinytail, rock, desert, green, and chuckwalla iguanas
Informal grouping morunasaurs: wood lizards, clubtails
Informal grouping oplurines: Madagascan iguanids
Informal grouping sceloporines: earless, spiny, tree, side-blotched and horned lizards
Informal grouping tropidurines: curly-tailed lizards, South American swifts, neotropical ground lizards

Frost et al. (1989) classification of iguanas

Family Corytophanidae

Family Crotaphytidae

Family Hoplocercidae

Family Iguanidae

Genus Amblyrhynchus – marine iguana
Genus Brachylophus – Fijian/Tongan iguanas
Genus Cachryx – spinytail iguanas
Genus Conolophus – Galápagos land iguanas
Genus Ctenosaura – spinytail iguanas
Genus Cyclura – West Indian rock iguanas
Genus Dipsosaurus – desert iguana
Genus Iguana – green and Lesser Antillean iguanas
Genus Sauromalus – chuckwallas
Genus Armandisaurus (extinct chuckwalla)
Genus Lapitiguana (extinct giant Fijian iguana)
Genus Pumilia (extinct Palm Springs iguana)
Genus Pristiguana (Cretaceous Brazilian iguana)

Family Opluridae

Family Phrynosomatidae

Family Polychridae

Family Tropiduridae

Macey et al. (1997) classification of Iguanidae

Family Iguanidae

Subfamily Corytophaninae: casquehead lizards
Subfamily Crotaphytinae: collared and leopard lizards
Subfamily Hoplocercinae: wood lizards, clubtails
Subfamily Iguaninae: marine, Fijian, Galapagos land, spinytail, rock, desert, green, and chuckwalla iguanas
Subfamily Oplurinae: Madagascan iguanids
Subfamily Phrynosomatinae: earless, spiny, tree, side-blotched and horned lizards
Subfamily Polychrotinae: anoles, leiosaurs, Polychrus
Subfamily Tropidurinae: curly-tailed lizards, neotropical ground lizards, South American swifts

Schulte et al. (2003) classification of Iguanidae

Here families and subfamilies are proposed as clade names, but may be recognized under the traditional Linnean nomenclature.

Iguanidae

Corytophaninae: casquehead lizards
Crotaphytinae: collared and leopard lizards
Hoplocercinae: wood lizards, clubtails
Iguaninae: marine, Fijian, Galapagos land, spinytail, rock, desert, green, and chuckwalla iguanas
Oplurinae: Madagascan iguanids
Phrynosomatinae: earless, spiny, tree, side-blotched and horned lizards
Polychrotinae: anoles, leiosaurs, Polychrus

:*subclade of Polychrotinae Anolis: anoles

:*subclade of Polychrotinae Leiosaurini: leiosaurs

::*subclade of Leiosaurini Leiosaurae:

::*subclade of Leiosaurini Anisolepae:

:*subclade of Polychrotinae Polychrus

Tropidurinae: curly-tailed lizards, neotropical ground lizards, South American swifts

:*subclade of Tropidurinae Leiocephalus: curly-tailed lizards

:*subclade of Tropidurinae Liolaemini: South American swifts

:*subclade of Tropidurinae Tropidurini: neotropical ground lizards

Townsend et al. (2011), Wiens et al. (2012) and Pyron et al. (2013) classification of Iguanidae

Family Corytophanidae
Family Crotaphytidae
Family Dactyloidae
Family Hoplocercidae
Family Iguanidae
Family Leiocephalidae
Family Leiosauridae
Family Liolaemidae
Family Opluridae
Family Phrynosomatidae
Family Polychrotidae
Family Tropiduridae

References

External links

Family Iguanidae