Mona Ground Iguana - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Mona ground iguana is a subspecies of rhinoceros iguana belonging to the genus Cyclura. It was named by Thomas Barbour and G.K. Noble as a species in 1916. In 1937, Barbour considered it to be a subspecies of Cyclura cornuta. Its generic name (Cyclura) is derived from the Ancient Greek cyclos (κύκλος) meaning "circular" and ourá (οὐρά) meaning "tail", after the thick-ringed tail characteristic of all Cyclura. The Mona ground iguana's specific name, cornuta, is the feminine form of the Latin adjective cornutus, meaning "horned" and refers to the horned projections on the snouts of males of the species. Its subspecific name, stejnegeri honors Leonhard Hess Stejneger, who, when writing his Herpetology of Porto Rico in 1902, suspected this was a new species.

Debate continues as to whether this is a valid subspecies and not a different species in its own right. It is known in some scientific circles as Cyclura stejnegeri. Still, others consider it a regional variant of the parent species.