Club Tail Iguana

About the Club Tail Iguana

Ctenosaura quinquecarinata, commonly known as the Oaxacan spinytail iguana or the five-keeled spiny-tailed iguana is a species of lizard in the family Iguanidae native to Central America. It is found in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Other sources list it also from Mexico and El Salvador.

Its natural habitat is tropical dry forests. It is threatened in its native range by habitat loss. Ctenosaura quinquecarinata was first described by zoologist John Edward Gray in 1842 as Cyclura quinquecarinata; 32 years later it was redesignated by Marie Firmin Bocourt as Ctenosaura quinquecarinata. The generic name, Ctenosaura, is derived from two Greek words: ctenos (Κτενός), meaning "comb" (referring to the comblike spines on the lizard's back and tail), and saura (σαύρα), meaning "lizard". Its specific name quinquecarinata is a combination of two Latin words: quinque meaning "five" and carinata meaning "keeled" and refers to the five rows of scales on the animal's tail.

The tail on this species is heavily armored with five rings of spines forming longitudinal ridges. Males of the species grow... Wikipedia →