Diversity in the Dutch Caribbean

Michiel Oversteegen and Gerard van Buurt and Marion Haarsma

A new melanistic endemic iguana from Saba and Montserrat islands

Alice van Duijn - 22 April 2020
Iguana melanoderma on Saba
/ Foto:
Gerard van Buurt

A newly discovered endemic species of melanistic black iguana (Iguana melanoderma) was discovered in Saba and Montserrat islands (Lesser Antilles). The species was previously considered to represent melanistic individuals of the green iguana (Iguana iguana). Recently it was reclassified as a separate species based on a number of genomic distinctions and consistent morphological characteristics.

Bron

Breuil, M., Schikorski, D., Vuillaume, B., Krauss, U., Morton, M.N., Corry, E., Bech, N., Jelić, M. & F. Grandjean 2020. Painted black: Iguana melanoderma (Reptilia, Squamata, Iguanidae) a new melanistic endemic species from Saba and Montserrat islands (Lesser Antilles). ZooKeys 926: 95-131.