Iguanidae
Sign in to saveThe Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana.
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Iguanidae is a family of lizards that includes iguanas, chuckwallas, and their ancient relatives, with the green iguana being one of the most common members. This group matters because it represents an important branch of lizard diversity found across various regions.
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Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Pleurodonta
- Image
- AA Iguana Fot Ars Summum.JPG
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Article
13 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
- Description
- Distribution
- Extant genera
- Fossils
- Classification
- Historical classification
- Frost et al. (1989) classification of iguanas
- Macey et al. (1997) classification of Iguanidae
- Schulte et al. (2003) classification of Iguanidae
- Townsend et al. (2011), Wiens et al. (2012) and Pyron et al. (2013) classification of Iguanidae
- References
- External links
The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana.
== Taxonomy == Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphytidae). This family likely first appeared in Cenozoic, previously identified two Cretaceous genera (Pristiguana and Pariguana) are unlikely to belong to this family. The subfamily Iguaninae, which contains all modern genera, likely originated in the earliest Paleocene, about 62 million years ago. The most basal extant genus, Dipsosaurus, diverged from the rest of Iguaninae during the late Eocene, about 38 million years ago, with Brachylophus following a few million years later at about 35 million years ago, presumably after its dispersal event to the Pacific. All other modern iguana genera formed in the Neogene period.