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Barrington or Santa Fe Land Iguana, Santa Fe Island, Galapagos

Galapagos Islands

Off The Coast Of Equador

South America

Santa Fe Island

 

Land iguana basking in the sun. Shedding some skin.

 

The Barrington Land Iguana or Santa Fe Land Iguana (Conolophus pallidus) is a species of lizard in the Iguanidae family. It is one of three species of Conolophus. It is endemic to Santa Fe Island in the Galapagos.

 

Its generic name, Conolophus, is derived from two Greek words: conos (κώνος) meaning "spiny" and lophos (λοφος) meaning "crest" or "plume", denoting the spiny crests along their backs.

 

The Barrington Land Iguana is similar in every detail to the Galapagos Land Iguana except that the Barrington Island Iguana is paler yellow in color with a longer more tapered snout and more pronounced dorsal spines. The Barrington Land Iguana grows to a length of three feet with a body weight of up to twenty-five pounds.

 

Being cold-blooded, they absorb heat from the sun basking on volcanic rock and at night sleep in burrows to conserve their body heat. These iguanas also enjoy a symbiotic relationship with the island's finches; the birds remove parasites and ticks providing relief to the iguana and food for the birds.

 

Barrington Land iguanas are primarily herbivorous, however some individuals have shown that they are opportunistic carnivores supplementing their diet with insects, centipedes and carrion. Because fresh water is scarce on the islands it inhabits, the Land Iguana obtains the majority of its moisture from the prickly-pear cactus that makes up 80% of its diet: fruit, flowers, pads, and even spines. During the rainy season it will drink from available standing pools of water and feast on yellow flowers of the Genus Portulaca. Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. - Source Wikipedia

 

 

 

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Uploaded on June 20, 2018
Taken on April 1, 2013