Hardy, Jerry D., Jr.

English

Biodiversity Informatics

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 11, NUMBER 4  •  DECEMBER 2004 251HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVESBarbour and Ramsden (1919, Memoirs Mus. Comp. Zool.,Harvard Univ., 47[2]: 72–213) list six mainland localitiesfor the Cuban iguana, Cyclura macleayi macleayi Gray [= C.nubila nubila], and comment on the gradual extirpation of thespecies. Their records represent all the Cuban provinces with theexception of Santa Clara, now Las Villas.During September, 1955, Mr. Daniel Lyons, of the NaturalHistory Society of Maryland, and the author observed a num-ber of iguanas on the Cuban mainland near the city of Trinidad,Las Villas Province. These observations add a new provincialrecord to the list of Barbour and Ramsden.Five individuals were observed on the mainland in typicallimestone associations as described by Sutcliff (1952, NotulaeNaturae, Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 243 1–7) in his discussionof the species as observed on Cayo de la Piedra. In such areasdense vegetation occurs on a thin soil lying over a limestone base.Prickly pear and trailing cactus are typical plants. Iguanas occu-pying such areas live in natural cavities of the limestone.Observations were made on Cayo Macho de Tierra onSeptember 12, 1955. The island is approximately one-quarter-mile long and reaches a width of 200 yards. It consists of a low,sandy hill almost completely surrounded by dense mangroveswamps. Vegetation is sparse in the open, sandy central area andconsists chiefly of beach grasses. Besides the iguanas, numerousaquatic birds, land crabs, and Anolis sagrei were distributedthroughout the area. A small colony of Ameiva auberi occupieda sandy beach on the west end of the island.A total of seven iguanas was observed between 10:00 A.M.and noon, five of which were captured. In all cases they wereflushed from thick clumps of beach grass.There are apparently no accounts of Cyclura macleayimacleayi entering water as a means of escape. Two individualsentered burrows whereas the other island-dwelling iguanassought escape by entering the sea. Each one ran parallel to theshore, sometimes for more than one hundred yards, then, turn-ing swiftly, entered the water, swimming out about twenty yards,and remaining motionless beneath eight to ten inches of water.One individual entered the water from an open beach, but in anarea where heavy wave action was inhibited by a thick growth ofseaweed. The others entered the mangrove swamps in which thewater was clear and quiet.The island-dwelling iguanas inhabit long, shallow burrowssimilar to those dug by large land crabs. Burrows were observedin the more elevated regions of Cayo Macho de Tierra as well ason three small unnamed islands southeast of Casilda, and couldbe distinguished from crab burrows by their larger size and thelong groove-like tail marks at their entrances.Of the three burrows opened, two contained iguanas. Allran downward at a moderate angle for about two feet and thencontinued parallel to the surface for six or eight feet. Two endedblindly, whereas the third was found to have two entrancesapproximately eight feet apart. The actual dwelling place of itsoccupant was a small tunnel extending no more than two feetfrom one of the entrances.Local observers insist that iguanas invariably leave the bur-rows tail first. This is perhaps true in view of the size and struc-ture of the burrows, the diameters of which vary from four toeight inches throughout their length. In no case was an enlargedterminal room observed. Both of the individuals found in bur-rows were facing down-burrow in very tight quarters and werecollected by grasping the tail.Adult male Cuban Iguanas facing off in a territorial dispute. Photograph by Glenn Gerber.Notes on the Cuban Iguana1Jerry D. Hardy, Jr.1 Reprinted with permission from Herpetologica 12:323–324 (1956).

Notes on the Cuban Iguana

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Notes on the Cuban Iguana

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Biodiversity Informatics

The University of Kansas: Journals@KU