Amblyrhynchus cristatus

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

This is the only sea-going lizard in the world. Marine Iguanas look for green algae at low tide in shallow waters after sunbathing on the basaltic lavas of the Galapagos Islands. Exothermic, they sun in the morning, soaking up the heat; as they warm, they rise on their forelimbs to avoid overheating; as the day warms, they hide under the vegetation or walk towards the intertidal area where they graze upon green algae. They may remain submerged for up to ten minutes or more, at depths of ten meters.

After feeding, Marine Iguanas return to the rocky shore swimming with their tails undulating from side to side to warm up again. On land , they spit brine out of their nostrils. A gland the size of a little bean filters and collects the excess salt in their body fluids.

There are seven different races or subspecies which may vary considerably in size or color. Those from Northern Isabela would reach more than four feet in length , while the ones at Genovesa Island are only a little larger than 2 feet. The Española or Hood Marine iguana is the most colorful of them all showing different shades of black, red and green.

In some of the Islands their status is endangered due to the presence of introduced predators such as cats, dogs, rats and pigs.

Vulnerable

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial ; Marine [1].

Ecology: The world's only marine lizard species. Adults and juveniles occur on rocky coast and intertidal zones. Adult females can be found nesting up to 2 km inland and adult males can be found in marine waters, up to depths of 20 m. [1].

List of Habitats :

• 9 Marine Neritic
• 9.1 Marine Neritic - Pelagic
• 10 Marine Oceanic
• 10.1 Marine Oceanic - Epipelagic (0-200m)
• 12 Marine Intertidal
• 12.1 Marine Intertidal - Rocky Shoreline
• 12.4 Marine Intertidal - Mud Flats and Salt Flats

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Amblyrhincus ater DumÉril & Bibron 1837: 196 • Amblyrhincus cristatus DumÉril & Bibron 1837: 195 • Amblyrhincus demarlii DumÉril & Bibron 1837: 197 ? • Amblyrhincus [sic] ater — DumÉril & Bibron 1837: 196 • Amblyrhincus [sic] cristatus — DumÉril & Bibron 1837: 195 • Amblyrhynchus cristatus — Boulenger 1885: 185 • Amblyrhynchus cristatus — Steindachner 1876 • Amblyrhynchus cristatus — Swash & Still 2000 • Hypsilophus ater Fitzinger 1843: 55 • Hypsilophus cristatus Fitzinger 1843: 55 • Hypsilophus< /i> (Amblyrhynchus) Ater - Fitzinger 1843: 55 • Hypsilophus< /i> (Amblyrhynchus) Cristatus — Fitzinger 1843: 55 • Iguana< /i> (A. [mblyrhynchus]) Ater Gray 1831 • Iguana< /i> (A. [mblyrhynchus]) Cristatus - Gray 1831: 37 • Oreocephalus cristatus Gray 1845: 189

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Amblyrhynchus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 8 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. cristatus (Fernandina Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus albemarlensis (Isabella Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus cristatus (Galapagos Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus hassi (Santa Cruz Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus mertensi (Galapagos Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus nanus (Genovesa Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus sielmanni (Pinta Marine Iguana) · A. cristatus venustissimus (Espa?ola Marine Iguana)

More Info

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Further Reading

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• A geographic classification of Neotropical mammals. 36 1958 [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1958. url p. 635.
• Advances in herpetology and evolutionary biology: essays in honor of Ernest E. Williams / Cambridge, Mass.: Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1983. url p. 720.
• Allan Hancock Pacific expeditions. [Reports] Los Angeles, University of Southern California Press. url , p. 101, p. 23, p. 552, p. 91, p. 94, p. 97, p. 98.
• An illustrated dictionary of scientific terms. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, pref. 1878. url p. 16.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. url p. 542.
• Behavior and ecology of the rock iguana Cyclura carinata / by John Burton Iverson III. 1977. url p. 118, p. 196, p. 224, p. 271, p. 281, p. 82, p. 85.
• Biosphere Reserves, Compilation 4, October 1986: programme on man and the biosphere (MAB) IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre url p. 164.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 69 1929 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 210.
• Cassell's natural history. Ed. by P. Martin Duncan. .. London [etc]Cassell & Company, Limited, 1891-96. url , , p. 272.
• Catalogue of the lizards in the British museum (Natural history) / London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1885-87. url .
• Checklist of CITES Species CITES, WCMC url p. 153, p. 218, p. 58.
• Checklist of CITES Species: a reference to the appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CITES url p. 131, p. 149, p. 166, p. 61.
• College zoology, New York, The Macmillan company, 1912 url p. 554.
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• College zoology. New YorkMacmillan1918 url p. 554.
• Coral Reefs of the World. url p. 153.
• Current bibliography for aquatic sciences and fisheries. London, Taylor & Francis ltd. url p. 47.
• Elements of geology / Philadelphia: C.H. Kay & Co., 1839. url p. 229.
• From fish to philosopher; the story of our internal environment. Supplement with collaboration of CIBA Pharmaceutical Products Inc. Summit, N. J., CIBA Pharmaceutical Products Inc., c1959 url p. 172.
• Guide to the Galleries of Reptiles and Fishes [London]: BM(NH), 1887 url p. 11.
• Guide to the galleries of reptiles and fishes in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History) [London]Printed by order of the Trustees1888 url p. 11.
• Guide to the reptiles and batrachians exhibited in the Department of Zoology of the British Museum (Natural History) London: Printed by order of the Trustees, 1922. url p. 35.
• Handbuch der Biologie der Wirbeltiere. Von Dr. M. Hilzheimer. unter Mitwirkung von Dr. Phil. O. Haempel. mikt 599 Textabbildungen. vii, 756 p.illus (part col.)26 cm. url p. 326, p. 731.
• Humboldt; Monatsschrift für die gesamten Naturwissenschaften. Stuttgart, F. Enke, 1882-90. url p. 425.
• IUCN Directory of Neotropical Protected Areas IUCN url p. 195.
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• Oceanus. Woods Hole, Mass., Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution url p. 31, p. 39, p. 45, p. 55, p. 60.
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• Papers from the Hopkins-Stanford Galapagos expedition, 1898-1899. Washington, D.C., The Academy, 1901-1905. url p. 89.
• Phylogenetic systematics of iguanine lizards: a comparative osteological study / by Kevin de Queiroz. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1987. url , , , , p. 163, p. 175, p. 24, p. 29, p. 31, p. 38, p. 46, p. 50, p. 53, p. 62.
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• Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. London: Academic Press, [etc.], 1833-1965. url p. 422, p. 526, p. 67.
• Reptiles and batrachians / by E.G. Boulenger. London: Dent; [1914]. url p. 65.
• Reptiles and batrachians, by E. G. Boulenger, with numerous illustrations. London, E. P. Dutton & co.[1914] url p. 65, p. 65.
• Reptiles of the world: tortoises and turtles, crocodilians, lizards and snakes of the eastern and western hemispheres / by Raymond L. Ditmars. New York: Macmillan Co., 1922 [c1910] url .
• Reptiles, amphibia, fishes and lower chordata, by Richard Lydekker, J. T. Cunningham, G. A. Boulenger, and J. A. Thomson. With four plates in colour, thirty-three in monotone, a map and many text figures. London: Methuen, [1912] url p. 33.
• Revue méthodique et critique des collections déposées dans cet établissement. Leyden, Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie. url p. 20.
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Notes

Contributors

• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 30, 2012.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 2 providers.
• IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
• Nelson, K., Snell, H. and Wikelski, M. 2004. Amblyrhynchus cristatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 30January2012.
• Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
• TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
• Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• Yale University Peabody Museum: Peabody Herp Collection DiGIR provider Service

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2536010
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-8761
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 566844
• IUCN ID: 190404
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1822

Footnotes

1. Nelson, K., Snell, H. & Wikelski, M. 2004. Amblyrhynchus cristatus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.