''Oplurus cuvieri'', commonly known as the collared iguana, the collared iguanid lizard, Cuvier's Madagascar skink, Cuvier's Madagascar swift, and the Madagascan collared 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), ...

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Opluridae The Opluridae, or Madagascan iguanas, are a family of moderately-sized lizards native to Madagascar and Grande Comore. There are eight species across two genera, with most of them being under '' Oplurus''. The other genus, '' Chalarodon'', is eas ...

. The species is native to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

and the island of

Grande Comore Grande Comore (; ) is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which i ...

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

. There are two recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. ''O. cuvieri'' is the largest of six species in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Oplurus ''Oplurus'' is a genus of Malagasy iguanian lizards, most of which are rock-dwelling terrestrial species. The sister genus to ''Oplurus'' is ''Chalarodon'', which contains two species: '' Chalarodon madagascariensis'' and '' Chalarodon steink ...

''.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''cuvieri'', is in honor of

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Oplurus cuvieri'', p. 63).

Description

As some of the common names suggest, ''O. cuvieri'' has a distinctive black collar that stands out against the body which is speckled with lighter spots. It has a large head, and the relatively short tail has spiny scales. The female is a duller brown colour. The average length of ''O. cuvieri'' is 16 in. and the average weight is 160 – 190 g. The images below show considerable variation in markings and coloration. Oplurus Cuvieri Kirindy Madagascar.jpg, At

Kirindy Forest The Kirindy Forest (or Kirindy Private Reserve) is a private nature reserve situated in western Madagascar, about 50 km northeast of the town of Morondava, near Ambivy. The forest reserve falls within the boundaries of the Kirindy Mitea Nati ...

Madagascar Spiny Tailed Iguana.JPG, At

Tsimanampetsotsa National Park Tsimanampetsotsa National Park also spelt Tsimanampetsotse, and known as Tsimanampetsotsa Nature Reserve is a 432 km2 national park on the south-west coast of Madagascar in the region Atsimo-Andrefana. The park is south of Toliara and south ...

, showing a false eye on top of head

Geographic range

The collared iguana is found in the western tropical

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s of

and on the island of

Grand Comore Grande Comore (; ) is an island in Comoros off the coast of Africa. It is the largest island in the Comoros nation. Most of its population is of the Comorian ethnic group. Its population is about 316,600. The island's capital is Moroni, which is ...

in Comoros.

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the

nominotypical subspecies In biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. ...

. *'' Oplurus cuvieri cuvieri'' – Madagascar *'' Oplurus cuvieri comorensis'' – Grand Comore Island ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''

''.

Diet

''O. cuvieri'' has a mostly

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

and

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

diet, consuming an array of

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

such as

arachnids Arachnids are arthropods in the class Arachnida () of the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons. Adult arachnids ...

beetles 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 ...

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 ...

grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are amongst what are possibly the most ancient living groups of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grassh ...

and other

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

, as well as

isopods Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...

and various

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

earthworms An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial animal, terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (biology), class (or subclass (biology), subclass, depending on ...

, etc. Opportunistically, they may prey upon very small juvenile lizards, snakes or

amphibians Amphibians are ectothermic, anamniote, anamniotic, tetrapod, four-limbed vertebrate animals that constitute the class (biology), class Amphibia. In its broadest sense, it is a paraphyletic group encompassing all Tetrapod, tetrapods, but excl ...

, as well as occasional hatchling birds, bird eggs or newborn

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

Behavior

This diurnal iguana species is primarily

and spends much of its time gripping trunks and branches where it remains motionless while it scans the surrounding area for insects. Once It sees the prey, the lizard will run rapidly to capture it before it can escape. Madagascar Collared Lizards have also been observed positioning themselves near an ant trail where they can gain an easy meal by picking up the ants one by one. Occasionally, they may also eat plant matter such as flowers. This lizard is territorial, found alone or in an area with one male and a few females. When threatened, it will retreat into a crack or crevice in a tree trunk, and use its armored tail to form a barrier between itself and the predator.

Reproduction

The Madagascar collared iguana is estimated to reach

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

around 2-3 years of age. The

breeding season Seasonal breeders are animal species that successfully mate only during certain times of the year. These times of year allow for the optimization of survival of young due to factors such as ambient temperature, food and water availability, and ch ...

of the species is in-accordance with the arrival of the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

, and nesting typically occurs just after the first heavy rains. Males spar with one another over the females, often leading to injury or even death. The females dig shallow burrows, about 10 cm (4") deep, in exposed areas where there is no major vegetation, so as to provide maximum sunlight and warmth to the nest (often on or adjacent to a man-made or animal-worn forest trail). After laying her

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

(typically 2-5 eggs), the female lizard backfills her nest with the loose, excavated soil for insulation; she covers the nest area with sand, leaves and twigs for further concealment. Like many reptiles, she then leaves the nest permanently, with neither parent providing any degree of care for the hatchlings. After incubating for 60-70 days, the young lizards hatch from their eggs, leave the nest and immediately seek cover, as they are at their most vulnerable when small. Nevertheless, the hatchlings are self-sufficient, finding sustenance in small, appropriately-sized invertebrates, such as

ants Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of ...

and

termites Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the sof ...

, before gradually advancing to larger prey species. Females may lay several clutches per year.

Conservation

There is no data on the number of individuals in the wild and no known conservation measures in place for this species. Its habitat in the forests of

, however, faces a number of threats which may impact this iguana; this includes the burning of forests for agricultural expansion and the exploitation of trees for timber and charcoal. In addition, because of their shallow, unprotected nesting sites, the eggs are heavily preyed upon by other reptiles, most notably the Malagasy giant hognose snake.