Turks and Caicos Rock Iguana - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The Turks and Caicos rock iguana, Cyclura carinata carinata, was first described by American Zoologist Richard Harlan in Fauna Americana in 1825. 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. Its specific name carinata means "keeled" and refers to the animal's scales. The species is endemic to 50-60 of the 200 islands and cays that make up the Turks and Caicos Islands. It has one subspecies which lives on Booby Cay, Bartsch's iguana (Cyclura carinata bartschi). Morphological and genetic data indicate that the closest living relative of C. carinata is C. ricordi of Hispaniola.