Diet
Mona ground iguanas, like most Cyclura ssp. are primarily herbivorous, consuming leaves, flowers, berries, and fruits from different plant species. A study in 2000 by Dr Allison Alberts of the San Diego Zoo revealed that seeds passing through the digestive tracts of Cycluras germinate more rapidly than those that do not. These seeds in the fruits consumed by Cyclura have an adaptive advantage by sprouting before the end of very short rainy seasons. The Mona ground iguana is also an important means of distributing these seeds to new areas (particularly since females migrate to nesting sites) and, as the largest native herbivores of their ecosystems, they are essential for maintaining the balance between climate and vegetation. Their diets are very rarely supplemented with insect larvae, crabs, slugs, dead birds, and fungi; individual animals do appear to be opportunistic carnivores. Fewer than a dozen animal species and 71 plant species are found in the Mona ground iguanas' diets. Mona ground iguanas eat the caterpillar of sphingid moths. These larvae feed on poisonous plants and are aposematically colored and avoided by other predators.
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