IGUANAS. Hi) 



The Iguanas live ctiiefly on trees, but they take readily to the 

 water, swimming with great facilitj'. 



There are numerous species, all of which ai'e found in South 

 America and the Antilles. In the Island of Isabella; Sir E. Belcher 

 found swarms of them which he had reason to consider omnivorous, 

 feeding voraciouslj' on birds' eggs and the intestines of birds and 

 insects. 



The Common Iguana, /. tuberculafM, which inhabits a groat part 

 of South America, is one of the best known species of this family. 

 These reptiles are easily recognised from the large pouch under- 

 neath the neck, and the dentated crest which extends from the head 

 to the extremity of the tail. The tail, feet, and body are covered 

 with small scales. On the upper part, their colour is a more or less 

 decided green, sometimes becoming blue, at others slate-coloured ; 

 the lower part is of a j^ellowish green. The sides present zigzag, 

 roundish, brown scales, edged with j'ellow ; frequently a yellow 

 line is traced obliquely in front of the shoulder, and some indi- 

 viduals are sprinkled with brown ; others have the limbs spotted 

 with brown on a black ground. The tail is surrounded with 

 brownish rays alternating with others green and yellow. When 

 full grown it attains the leno-th of four feet, but the more ordi- 

 nary length of the animals is about thirty inches. They are very 

 gentle creatures, and perfectly harmless, feeding almost exclu- 

 sively on vegetables. They are hunted in America for their flesh, 

 which is excellent ; and thej^ are especially common at Surinam, 

 in the neighbourhood of Caj^enne, and in Brazil. 



[Of a kindred species, Metopoceros cornutits, which also is 

 common in the Antilles, an excellent description has been pub- 

 lished by Lieutenant Tj'ler,* which we must endeavour to con- 

 dense. This reptile attains a length of five, and sometimes even 

 of six feet, the tail being about twice and three quarters the 

 length of the body. "When first hatched it measures four inches. 

 The mouth is large, and is armed with two rows of maxillary and 

 two of palatal teeth, which appear simply to be intended to crop 

 leaves and to provide the stomach with vegetable food. Each 

 maxillary tooth is a little double-edged saw, and they are so 

 lapped over each other that the reptile, in closing its mouth upon 



* " Proceedings of the Zoological Society " for 1850, p. 106. 



