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Fiji banded iguana (Brachylophus fasciatus)
Fiji banded iguana fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Fiji banded iguana description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Reptilia |
| Order | Squamata |
| Family | Iguanidae |
| Genus | Brachylophus (1) |
The Fiji banded iguana is a spectacularly beautiful, large, emerald-green lizard named for the highly distinctive, broad, vertical blue to light green stripes on the body and tail of males (4). Females, by contrast, are usually uniformly green, occasionally showing a few white to pale blue spots (2) (5). Both sexes have red-orange eyes, bright yellow-rimmed nostrils and a short crest of raised scales running down their spine (2) (4). The extremely long tail makes up more than two thirds of the lizard’s total length, and is used for balance as it climbs amongst the forest branches (2).
- Also known as
- South Pacific banded iguana.
- Synonyms
- Brachylophus brevicephalus.
- French
- Iguane à bandes de Fidji.
- Size
- Total length: up to 80 cm (2)
- Arboreal
- Lives in trees.
- IUCN Red List (December, 2007)
http://www.iucnredlist.org - Cyclura.info (January, 2007)
http://www.cyclura.info/artikels/cs_brachylophus_eng.htm - CITES (July, 2006)
http://www.cites.org - Virtual Museum of Natural History (January, 2007)
http://www.curator.org/LegacyVMNH/WebOfLife/Kingdom/P_Chordata/ClassReptilia/O_Squamata/InfraIguania/FIguanidae/Iguaninae/fiji_banded_iguana.htm - Saint Louis Zoo (January, 2007)
http://www.stlzoo.org/animals/abouttheanimals/reptiles/lizards/fijibandediguana.htm - The Foundalis Zoo (January, 2007)
http://www.cogsci.indiana.edu/farg/harry/bio/zoo/iguanafb.htm - Cyclura.info (November, 2007)
http://www.cyclura.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=63 - Harlow, P. (2007) Pers. comm.
- Fear-No-More Zoo (January, 2007)
http://www.fearnomorezoo.org/locations/fiji.php - San Diego Zoo (January, 2007)
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-iguana.html - view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
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Related species
Fiji banded iguana biology
The Fiji banded iguana is active during the day, when it forages for leaves, flowers, fruit and occasionally insects, basks in the sun and defends territories (7). Males are highly territorial using a predominantly visual display to intimidate intruders and often ending in aggressive confrontations. During courtship, males entice females to mate by bobbing their head and flicking their tongue at them (7). After mating, the female digs a burrow, into which she lays and buries a clutch of three to six eggs. The eggs typically hatch seven to nine months later and the young dig out of the burrow together (8).
TopFiji banded iguana range
Confined to Fiji and Tonga (6), with an introduced population on Vanuatu (1).
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Species with a similar range
Fiji banded iguana habitat
Found mostly in undisturbed forest habitat (7), this strictly arboreal lizard is very good at climbing and leaping through branches. They are also good swimmers like all Iguanids (8).
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Species found in a similar habitat
Fiji banded iguana status
Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1) and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3).
Fiji banded iguana threats
The Fiji banded iguana is considered seriously endangered due to habitat destruction and predation by mongooses and house cats introduced to the islands, which feed on the iguanas and their eggs (5).
TopFiji banded iguana conservation
The Fiji banded iguana now has full protection under both Fiji and international laws (5). There have also been very successful captive breeding programmes of this species, with the Fear-No-More Zoo in Fiji having successfully bred the species for the last fifteen years (9), and the San Diego Zoo in the U.S. having produced over 100 offspring since 1965 (10).
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Authentication
Authenticated (10/12/07) by Dr. Peter Harlow, Manager of the Herpetofauna Division, Taronga Zoo, Australia.
TopGlossary
References
More »Related species
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Image credit
Male Fiji banded iguana
© Patricio Robles Gil / naturepl.com
Nature Picture Library
5a Great George Street
Bristol
BS1 5RR
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 117 911 4675
Fax: +44 (0) 117 911 4699
info@naturepl.com
http://www.naturepl.com
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