Peracca's Whorltail Iguana

About the Peracca's Whorltail Iguana

Stenocercus festae, also known commonly as Peracca's whorltail iguana and Peracca's whorl-tailed iguana, is a species of lizard in the family Tropiduridae. The species is endemic to Ecuador. The specific name, festae, is in honor of Italian zoologist Enrico Festa.

S. festae is found in southern Ecuador, on both the eastern slope and the western slope of the Andes, in the provinces of Azuay, Cañar, and Loja. The preferred natural habitats of S. festae are forest, and above the tree line shrubland, at altitudes of 2,300–3,200 m (7,500–10,500 ft).

S. festae may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 7.8 cm (3.1 in), with a tail length of 15 cm (5.9 in). S. festae is oviparous. Fritts TH (1974). "A multivariate evolutionary analysis of the Andean Iguanid lizards of the genus Stenocercus ". San Diego Society of Natural History Memoir 7: 1–89. (Stenocercus festae, new combination, pp. 49–51 + Figure 37 on p. 81).

Peracca MG (1897). "Viaggio del Dr. Enrico Festa nell'Ecuador e regioni vicine. IV. ". Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia comparata della R[egia... Wikipedia →