Contoh Report Text Green Iguana

        

Green Iguana

General Clasification

The Iguana is a large, arboreal herbivorous species of lizard of the genus Iguana. Some types of iguanas live in tropical rain forests, others live in deserts, and there are some that live on rocks along the ocean. One special adaptation they have is that they can be different colors from bright green, to dark brown to help them hide in grass, trees, in water, and along rocks.

Appearance

Iguanas lay up to fifty eggs at a time, and baby iguanas are usually bright green. Iguanas can grow to be up to seven feet long if you measure them from their nose all the way to the end of their long tail. They can live for up to twenty years. They are cold-blooded reptiles, so they have to soak up the sun’s rays during the day to stay warm when the sun sets. Iguanas can run very fast, climb trees easily with their long claws and they’re great swimmers. If a big animal catches an iguana, its tail can break off and it will grow back. (Smaller lizards, like anoles and salamanders, can do this too.)

Behavior

Iguanas are omnivores. They like to eat leaves and fruits best, but they also eat insects and sometimes they even eat small animals. When frightened by a predator, Green Iguanas will attempt to flee, and if near a body of water, they dive into it and swim away. If cornered by a threat, the Green Iguana will extend and display the dewlap under its neck, stiffen and puff up its body, hiss, and bob its head at the aggressor. If threat persists the Iguana can lash with its tail, bite and use its claws in defense. The wounded are more inclined to fight than uninjured prey.

Green Iguanas use "head bobs" and dewlaps in a variety of ways in social interactions, such as greeting another iguana or to court a possible mate. The frequency and number of head bobs have particular meanings to other iguanas.

Green Iguanas are preyed upon by hawks and their fear of hawks is exploited as a ploy to catch them in the wild. The sound of a hawk's whistle or scream makes the iguana freeze and it becomes easier to capture.

Habitat

The habitat of iguana native to Central, South America, and the Caribbean. The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area, from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico and the Caribbean Island especially in Puerto Rico where they are also known as "Gallina de palo" and they are very common throughout the island where is seen as an intruder animal from South America; and in the United States as feral populations in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, and theRio Grande Valley of Texas

Breeding

Male Green Iguanas have highly developed femoral pores on the underside of their thighs which secrete a scent (females have femoral pores, but they are smaller in comparison to those of the males). In addition, the dorsal spines that run along a Green iguana's back are noticeably longer and thicker in males than they are in females, making the animals somewhat sexually dimorphic.

Green Iguanas are oviparous with females laying clutches of 20 to 71 eggs once per year during a synchronized nesting period. The female Green iguana gives no parental protection after egg laying, apart from defending the nesting burrow during excavation. In Panama, the Green iguana has been observed sharing nest sites with American crocodiles and in Honduras with Spectacled Caimans.

The hatchlings emerge from the nest after 10–15 weeks of incubation. Once hatched, the young iguanas look similar to the adults in color and shape, resembling adult females more so than males and lacking dorsal spines.

Juveniles stay in familial groups for the first year of their lives. Male Green iguanas in these groups often use their own bodies to shield and protect females from predators and it appears to be the only species of reptile which does this.