I guanas have long fascinated be-havioral ecologists because they offer an exception to almost every generalization. The implicit hope is that by explaining the exceptions, we might also be able to understand the rule. Whereas most lizards are insectivorous, iguanas feed mostly on plants. Whereas most lizards are territorial, iguanas often live together in groups. Much of lizard behavior and ec...

It was recently reported that the epaxial muscles of a lizard, Varanus salvator, function to stabilize the trunk during locomotion, and it was suggested that this stabilizing role may be a shared derived feature of amniotes. This result was unexpected because it had previously been assumed that the epaxial muscles of lizards function to produce lateral bending during locomotion and that only in...

Hedgehog signaling is critical for metazoan development and requires cilia for pathway activity. The gene iguana was discovered in zebrafish as required for Hedgehog signaling, and encodes a novel Zn finger protein. Planarians are flatworms with robust regenerative capacities and utilize epidermal cilia for locomotion. RNA interference of Smed-iguana in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea caus...

El consumo de plástico se reporta cada vez con mayor frecuencia en reptiles acuáticos y terrestres. No siempre es fatal, pero indudablemente afecta la calidad vida los animales formas que aún no son del todo claras. Durante jornadas control iguanas verdes (Iguana iguana) República Dominicana, registraron dos individuos fundas plásticas el tracto gastrointestinal. La necropsia también reveló pre...

Mechanical integration of the cardiac, muscular and ventilatory pumps enables mammals to vary cardiac output over a wide range to match metabolic demands. We have found this integration lacking in a lizard (Iguana iguana) that differs from mammals because blood flow from the caudal body and ventilation are maximal after, rather than during, exercise. Because Iguana iguana are constrained from v...

Electron microscopy analyses of Iguana iguana blood preparations revealed the presence of mitochondria within erythrocytes with well-structured cristae. Fluorescence microscopy analyses upon incubation with phalloidin-FITC, Hoechst 33342 and mitochondrial transmembrane potential (Δψm)-sensitive probe MitoTracker Red indicated that mitochondria i) widely occur in erythrocytes, ii) are polarized,...