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The green iguana (''Iguana iguana''), also known as common iguana or American iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus ''Iguana'' native to Central, South America, and the Caribbean. Usually, this animal is simply called the iguana. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. They have been introduced from South America to Puerto Rico and are very common throughout the island, where they are colloquially known as "Gallina de palo" and considered an invasive species; in the United States feral populations also exist in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. An herbivore, it has adapted significantly with regard to locomotion and osmoregulation as a result of its diet. It grows to in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than with bodyweights upward of . Commonly found in captivity as a pet due to its calm disposition and bright colors, it can be very demanding to care for properly. Space requirements and the need for special lighting and heat can prove challenging to an amateur hobbyist. ==Taxonomy and etymology== The species was first officially described by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1758.〔 In the two centuries since then, numerous subspecies have been identified, but later classified as merely regional variants of the same species. Using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA-sequence data to explore the phylogenic history of the green iguana, scientists from Utah Valley State College studied animals collected from 17 different countries. The topology of phylogeny indicated that the species originated in South America and eventually radiated through Central America and the Caribbean.〔 The study revealed no unique mitochondrial DNA haplotypes for subspecific status but did indicate the deep lineage divergence between Central and South American populations.〔 The word ''iguana'' is derived from a Spanish form of the Taíno name for the species: ''iwana''.〔 〕〔 In some Spanish speaking countries, males of the species are referred to as ''gorrobo'' or ''ministro'' and juveniles are called ''iguanita'' or ''gorrobito''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「green iguana」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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