Cyclura nubila caymanensis
| Lesser Caymans iguana | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Iguanidae |
| Genus: | Cyclura |
| Species: | C. nubila |
| Subspecies: | C. n. caymanensis |
| Trinomial name | |
| Cyclura nubila caymanensis (Schwartz & Thomas, 1975) |
|
The Lesser Caymans iguana (Cyclura nubila caymanensis), also known as the Cayman Brac iguana, Cayman Island brown iguana or Sister Isles iguana, is a critically endangered subspecies of the Cuban iguana (Cyclura nubila). It is native to two islands to the south of Cuba: Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are also known as the Sister Isles due to their similar shapes and close proximity to each other. This subspecies is in decline due to habitat encroachment by human development and predation by feral dogs and cats. It is nearly extinct on Cayman Brac (less than 100 animals), and Little Cayman supports a population of about 1,500 animals.
The Lesser Caymans iguana, Cyclura nubila caymanensis, is endemic to the islands of Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. It is a subspecies of Cuban iguana. This subspecies has been introduced to Grand Cayman, where it has interbred with that island's endemic blue iguana (Cyclura lewisi).
The generic name (Cyclura) is derived from the Ancient Greek cyclos (κύκλος) meaning "circular" and ourá (οὐρά) meaning "tail", after the thick-ringed tail characteristic of all Cyclura. Its specific name, nubila, is Latin for "gray" but in this instance is a Latinized form of the name of John Edward Gray, the British zoologist who first described the Cuban rock iguana as a species in 1831 as opposed to the animal's base color. Its subspecific name Caymanensis refers to the island where it lives being a Latinized form of "Cayman".
Zoologists Thomas Barbour and Gladwyn Kingsley Noble first described the Lesser Caymans iguana as a species in 1916.Chapman Grant, in a monograph published in 1940, formally described the Lesser Caymans iguana for the first time as a subspecies: Cyclura macleayi caymanensis.
...
Wikipedia