NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Turks & Caicos Iguana
Cyclura carinata Harlan, 1824
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Bahamas Rock Iguana (Cyclura carinata)
Caudatejake · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Turks and Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura carinata) is a species of lizard endemic to the Turks and Caicos islands. This small iguana can reach 30 in (76 cm) and becomes mature at seven years and may live for twenty. A single clutch of up to nine eggs is laid each year, and these take three months to hatch. This iguana is mostly herbivorous, but supplements this by adding some animal matter to its diet.
At one time numerous, these iguanas have been depleted by introduced predators, mainly cats and dogs. Their habitat is being degraded by overgrazing and trampling of vegetation which reduces the availability of food for the iguanas. They have been wiped out of some islands and cling on precariously in others. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated them as endangered. Various conservation efforts are being undertaken, and some iguanas have been relocated to uninhabited islets in an effort to prevent them from becoming extinct.
Wikipedia contributors, Turks and Caicos rock iguana; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:30:33.005472+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Cyclura carinata Harlan, 1824
- Name authority
- Harlan, 1824
- Common name
- Turks & Caicos Iguana
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Iguanidae
- Genus
- Cyclura
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyIguanidae
- genusCyclura
- speciesCyclura carinata Harlan, 1824
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Cyclura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cyclura cychlura (Cuvier, 1829) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Hispaniolan Rhinoceros IguanaCyclura cornuta (Bonnaterre, 1789) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Grand Cayman Blue IguanaCyclura lewisi Grant, 1941 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Anegada Ground IguanaCyclura pinguis Barbour, 1917 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Ricord's Ground IguanaCyclura ricordii (Duméril & Bibron, 1837) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| White Cay Ground IguanaCyclura rileyi Stejneger, 1903 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Cyclura carinata bartschi Cochran, 1931 Cochran, 1931 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Cyclura&species=carinata Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:32YSR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.