Barrington Land Iguana

Barrington Land Iguana
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Iguanidae
Genus:	Conolophus
Species:	C. pallidus
Binomial name
Conolophus pallidus Heller, 1903

The Barrington Land Iguana, or the Santa Fe Land Iguana, (Conolophus pallidus) is a species of lizard in the Iguanidae family. It is one of three species of Conolophus. It is endemic to Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos.^[1][2]

Taxonomy

First described by American Zoologist Edmund Heller in 1903, it has been questioned whether C. pallidus is a valid species in its own right or merely a variant or possibly subspecies of the Galapagos Land Iguana found on other islands in the Galapagos.^[3] Its generic name, Conolophus, is derived from two Greek words: conos (κώνος) meaning "spiny" and lophos (λοφος) meaning "crest" or "plume", denoting the spiny crests along their backs. Its specific name pallidus is Latin for "pale", denoting its lighter coloration than C. subcristatus.

Morphology

The Barrington Land Iguana is similar in every detail to the Galapagos Land Iguana except that the Barrington Island Iguana is paler yellow in color with a longer more tapered snout and more pronounced dorsal spines.^[1]

The Barrington Land Iguana grows to a length of three feet with a body weight of up to twenty-five pounds.^[4] Being cold-blooded, they absorb heat from the sun basking on volcanic rock and at night sleep in burrows to conserve their body heat.^[4] These iguanas also enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the island's finches; the birds remove parasites and ticks providing relief to the iguana and food for the birds.^[1][5]

Diet

Barrington Land iguanas are primarily herbivorous, however some individuals have shown that they are opportunistic carnivores supplementing their diet with insects, centipedes and carrion.^[1] Because fresh water is scarce on the islands it inhabits, the Land Iguana obtains the majority of its moisture from the prickly-pear cactus that makes up 80% of its diet: fruit, flowers, pads, and even spines.^[1][4] During the rainy season it will drink from available standing pools of water and feast on yellow flowers of the Genus Portulaca.^[4][5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Freda (2006). "Land iguanas". Charles Darwin Research Station Fact Sheet. Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands. Archived from the original on 2007-06-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20070606214921/http://www.darwinfoundation.org/files/species/pdf/land-iguana-en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-14. 
2. ^ World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). Conolophus pallidus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 10/17/2007.
3. ^ Rassmann, Kornelia; Markmann, Melanie; Trillmich, Fritz; Tautz, Diethard (2004), "Tracing the Evolution of the Galapagos Iguanasn", Iguanas: Biology and Conservation (California: University of California Press): pp. 71–83, ISBN 9780520238541 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Rogers, Barbara (1990), Galapagos, New York: Mallard Press, pp. 51, ISBN 9780792451921 
5. ^ ^{a b} Kricher, John (2006), Galapagos: A Natural History, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, pp. 9,51,91,200, ISBN 9780691126333