Iguana 59 cm - Cuddly Toy

Physical Characteristics
The Green Iguana can grows to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than 2 metres (6.6 ft) with bodyweights upward of 20 pounds (9.1 kg). Iguanas possess a row of spines along their backs and along their tails which helps to protect them from predators. Their whip-like tails can be used to deliver painful strikes and like many other lizards, when grabbed by the tail, the iguana can allow it to break, so it can escape and eventually regenerate a new one. In addition, iguanas have well developed dewlaps which help regulate their body temperature. It is also used in courtships and displays. Despite their name, not all Green Iguanas are actually green.

Habitat
The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay to as far north as Mexico and the Caribbean Islands; and in the United States as feral populations in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Behaviour
When frightened by a predator, Green iguanas will attempt to flee, and if near a body of water, they dive into it and swim away. If cornered by a threat, the Green iguana will extend and display the dewlap under its neck, stiffen and puff up its body, hiss, and bob its head at the aggressor. If the threat persists, an Iguana can lash with its tail, bite and use its claws in defense. The wounded are more inclined to fight than uninjured prey. Green iguanas use "head bobs" and dewlaps in a variety of ways in social interactions, such as greeting another iguana or to court a possible mate.

Breeding
Green iguanas are oviparous with females laying clutches of 20 to 71 eggs once per year during a synchronized nesting period. The female Green iguana gives no parental protection after egg laying, apart from defending the nesting burrow during excavation. The hatchlings emerge from the nest after 10-15 weeks of incubation. Once hatched, the young iguanas look similar to the adults in colour and shape, resembling adult females more so than males and lacking dorsal spines. Juveniles stay in familial groups for the first year of their lives. Male Green iguanas in these groups often use their own bodies to shield and protect females from predators and it appears to be the only species of reptile which does this.

Diet
Green iguanas are primarily herbivores, feeding on leaves, flowers, fruit and growing shoots of upwards of 100 different species of plant.

Strange and Interesting Facts
In Central and South America, Green iguanas are still used as a source of meat and are often referred to as gallina de palo, 'bamboo chicken' or 'chicken of the tree' because they are said to taste like chicken.