''Ctenosaura palearis'', commonly known as the Motagua spiny-tailed iguana, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of spiny-tailed iguana

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the Motagua Valley in

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

Conservation status

This

is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

and illegal trade. These iguanas were used as a source of food by natives. Its eggs are a food source for the equally threatened Motagua Valley beaded lizard (''Heloderma charlesbogerti''), thereby possibly linking the status of the two

. It is included in

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

appendix II so that trade of this

is regulated.

Diet

The Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana feeds on leaves and the fruits of the cactus ''

Stenocereus ''Stenocereus'' () is a genus of columnar or tree-like cactus, cacti from the Baja California Peninsula and other parts of Mexico, Arizona in the United States, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Venezuela and the West Indies. The genus has been en ...

pruinosus'' and occasionally insects (

crickets Crickets are orthopteran insects which are related to bush crickets and more distantly, to grasshoppers. In older literature, such as Imms,Imms AD, rev. Richards OW & Davies RG (1970) ''A General Textbook of Entomology'' 9th Ed. Methuen 886 ...

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

s and wasps).

Habitat

The habitat of ''C. palearis'' is characterized by a greater frequency of the cactus '' Stenocereus pruinosus'', '' Albizzia idiopoda'', ''Ximena americana'' and ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

deamii''. The Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana can be regarded as a

keystone species A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its natural environment relative to its abundance. The concept was introduced in 1969 by the zoologist Robert T. Paine. Keystone species play a critical role in main ...

because it plays an important role in

seed dispersal In spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...

of ''S. pruinosus''.

References

* Coti, P. and D. Ariano. 2008. Ecology and traditional use of the Guatemalan black iguana (''Ctenosaura palearis'') in the dry forests of the Motagua Valley, Guatemala. Iguana 15 (3): 142–14

Conservation status

Diet

Habitat

References

Further reading