Brachylophus

Taxobox
name = "Brachylophus"


image_width = 260px
image_caption = Fiji Banded Iguana ("Brachylophus fasciatus") in captivity
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Iguania
familia = Iguanidae
genus = "Brachylophus"
genus_authority = Cuvier, 1829
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Brachylophus fasciatus"
"Brachylophus vitiensis"
"Brachylophus bulabula"

The genus "Brachylophus" consists of three extant iguanid species native to the islands of Fiji and Tonga in the South Pacific.

Etymology and taxonomy

The name, "Brachylophus", is derived from two Greek words: brachys (βραχῦς) meaning "short" and lophos (λοφος) meaning "crest" or "plume", denoting the short spiny crests found along the backs of these species. "Brachylophus" are the most geographically isolated iguanas in the world. They are believed to have evolved from green iguanas that rafted across the Pacific Ocean from South America 13 million years ago.cite journal|last=Cogger| first=Harold| authorlink= Harold Cogger |title=Voyage of the Banded Iguana |journal=Australia Natural History|year=1974 |volume=18 |issue=4|pages=144-149 |accessdate=2008-10-07] The extant species are:

* Fiji banded iguana, "Brachylophus fasciatus"
* Fiji crested iguana, "Brachylophus vitiensis"
* "Brachylophus bulabula"

"Brachylophus bulabula" ('bula' is the Fijian word for 'hello') was discovered in the central regions of Fiji by a team lead by a scientist from the Australian National University. Detailed genetic and morphological analyses were made to conclude that "B. bulabula" represents a third species.cite web |title=Hello hello: New iguana species found in Fiji |publisher=Associated Press |location=Fiji |year=2008|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/scienceenvironmentspeciesiguana |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=2008-10-06 |date=2008-09-19]

A giant species similar in size and build to an iguana of the genus "Cyclura" once existed but became extinct in prehistoric times due to persecution by humans and their domestic animals on Lifuka and Tongatapu.cite journal | last =Pregill | first = Gregory K.| authorlink = | coauthors =Dye, Tom | title = Prehistoric Extinction of Giant Iguanas in Tonga| journal = Copeia | volume = 1989| issue =2 | pages =505-508 | publisher =American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists | date = 1989| url = | doi = 10.2307/1445455| id = |accessdate=2008-10-07]

Footnotes

References

* (1989) A Phylogenetic Analysis and Taxonomy of Iguanian Lizards (Reptilia: Squamata). University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publications 81: 1-65.
* (2001): Total evidence, sequence alignment, evolution of Polychrotid lizards, and a reclassification of the Iguania (Squamata: Iguania). "American Museum Novitates" 3343: 1-38. [http://research.amnh.org/scicomp/pdfs/Frost_etal2001b.pdf PDF fulltext]

External Links

* [http://online.wr.usgs.gov/ocw/htmlmail/2008/September/web/index.html Images of "B. bulabula"]