Topic: Cold Iguanas!

[Nichi]

I just read that Florida is having such an uncharacteristic cold that iguanas are dropping from the trees. They go into a "paralysis" state when it gets too cold.

Here's a little video story about it:
http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?clip=16226

[Michael]

What incredible creatures!

[Nichi]

We don't have them where I am or north of here .. the climate has to be pretty tropical for them. Florida usually fits that bill, but the US has a lot of weird weather this year.

But yes, they are fascinating! So ancient, yet they have a petulance about them.

I'm not sure... you have some kin of them, if not themselves, right?



Nat'l Geographic:

The Green Iguana (Iguana iguana) is a large, arboreal herbivorous species of lizard of the genus iguana native to Central and South America. The Green iguana ranges over a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay to as far north as Mexico, the Caribbean Islands; and in the United States as feral populations in South Florida, the Florida Keys, Hawaii and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. The Green iguana is a reptile commonly found in captivity as a pet and grows to 1.5 meters in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 meters (6 feet) and can weigh upwards of 20 pounds (10 kg).

[Michael]

Not aware of anything like that in Aust. Xero may know different.

[xero]

Our Ozzy Goanna was wrongly named after Iguanas, a Spanish word which might have been adapted from and Indian term for this group of distinctive lizards. - I don't know on that score. Our goanna is a monitor (it has a forked tongue - so is more closely related to snakes actually) Iganuas have a fleshy tongue of 'true' lizards. Though we have a number of lizards that look like them, like the Beaded Dragon and particularly the Forest Dragon from up north, these are a totally different family of lizards.

[Nichi]

Thanks, X! Hey that forest dragon is also a handsome critter!