Navassa Island Iguana (Cyclura cornuta ssp. onchiopsis)
The Navassa Island Iguana is a subspecies of the Rhinoceros Iguana (Cyclura cornuta (Bonaterre)) that was restricted to the tiny and uninhabited Navassa Island and is sometimes treated as a distinct species.
The animals reached sizes of 60 cm to about 1,3 m and were dark green, grey to nearly blackish grey or brown in color.
The Navassa form was described in 1885, it disappeared sometimes after completely unnoticed, the reasons for its extinction are probably mainly found in habitat destruction by guano mining as well as predation by introduced dogs and rats.
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edited: 16.05.2021
Tag Archives: Navassa
Leiocephalus eremitus Cope
Navassa Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus eremitus)
The Navassa Curly-tailed Lizard was described in 1868, it is known only from the type specimen, a female bearing three mature ova [eggs].
The species was endemic to the tiny, uninhabited yet not undisputed island of Navassa: the island is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute between Haiti and the United States, both of which claim the ownership over the little dry rock.
The Navassa Curly-tailed Lizard reached a size of about 13 to 14 cm long (including the tail). [1]
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References:
[1] Gregory K. Pregill: Systematics of the West Indian Lizard Genus Leiocephalus (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae). Miscellaneous Publications of the Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas 84: 1-69. 1992
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edited: 07.09.2019