Lapitiguana Impensa
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''Lapitiguana impensa'' is an
extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
giant (1.5 m long)
iguanid 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 Crotaphy ...
from
Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
. It likely became extinct following the human colonization of Fiji 3000 years ago. All extant Fijian iguanas are in the genus ''
Brachylophus The genus ''Brachylophus'' consists of four Extant taxon, extant iguanid species native to the islands of Fiji and a giant extinct species from Tonga in the South West Pacific. One of the extant species, ''B. fasciatus'', is also present on Tong ...
'', together with an extinct species from Tonga. The closest living relatives of the
Polynesia Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...
n iguanas are found in the Americas.


See also

*''
Brachylophus gibbonsi ''Brachylophus gibbonsi'' is an extinct species of large (~1.2 m long) iguanid lizard from Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean. Its remains have been found associated with cultural sites on Lifuka, four other islands in the Haʻapai group, and To ...
'' *''
Pumilia novaceki ''Pumilia novaceki'' is an extinct iguanid that lived in what is now Palm Springs, California, from the Blancan to Irvingtonian stages of the Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. It is currently known from a partially crushed skull. Features of the s ...
''


References


External links


Fossil remains of the giant iguana ''Lapitiguana impensa''Lapitiguana impensa; holotype
Quaternary reptiles Iguanidae Reptiles of Fiji Fossil taxa described in 2003 Reptile genera Holocene extinctions {{paleo-lizard-stub