Green Thornytail Iguana

Open encyclopedia reference

The green thornytail iguana (Uracentron azureum) is an arboreal species of lizard from the Amazon rainforest and forests in the Guiana Shield. It is found in Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, northeastern Peru, southern Venezuela, and northern Brazil. As in U. flaviceps (the only other species in the genus), U. azureum primarily feeds on ants.

The green thornytail iguana can reach about 9 cm (3.5 in) in snout–vent length and has a relatively short, spiny tail. It has three distinct subspecies, which sometimes have been recognized as separate species: the nominate subspecies is bright green with distinct blackish bands and is found in the northeastern part of the green thornytail iguana's range, the southwestern T. a. guentheri is duller with greyish or brownish rear body and tail, and the northwestern T. a. werneri is almost all green without distinct markings in adults.

Wikipedia contributors, Uracentron azureum; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:30:39.294019+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Uracentron azureum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common name

Green Thornytail Iguana

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Squamata

Family

Tropiduridae

Genus

Uracentron

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
9. orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
10. suborderIguania
11. familyTropiduridae
12. genusUracentron
13. speciesUracentron azureum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.

Browse 131 records assigned to Tropiduridae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Uracentron&species=azureum 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:7DLL5. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.