Green iguana
Scientific name: Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758)
Overview
The green iguana, also known as the American iguana or the common green iguana, is a large, arboreal, mostly herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. Usually, this animal is simply called the iguana. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area; it is native from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico. It is highly invasive in many subtropical and tropical environments throughout the world.
From the Wikipedia article “Green iguana”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022.2.
Where it lives
The Catalogue of Life records it in: USA (introduced to Florida and Hawaii).
Common names
Also known in English as Common Green Iguana, Grenadines horned iguana, pink rhino iguana [insularis], Saint Lucia horned iguana [sanctaluciae].
Names in other languages (10)
- Arabic
- إغوانة خضراء
- Chinese
- 美洲鬣蜥
- German
- Grüner Leguan
- Hindi
- हरा इगुआना
- Indonesian
- Iguana hijau
- Japanese
- グリーンイグアナ
- Persian
- ایگوانای سبز
- Portuguese
- Camaleão, Iguana, Iguana-Verde, Sinimbu, Tejubú, Tijubú
- Russian
- обыкновенная игуана
- Spanish
- Iguana de Ribera
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names and range.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: The Reptile Database.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q215376, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Green iguana”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
- Range map — Viktor Kravtchenko, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026