Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura palearis) |Also known
as:||paleate spiny-tailed iguana| |Spanish:||Garrobo del
Motagua, Iguana de Órgano, Iguana de Tuno| |Size||Male total
length: up to 61 cm (2)| Female total length: up to 51 cm (2)
The Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana is classified as Endangered
(EN) on the IUCN Red List (1). This species belongs to the group
of spiny-tailed iguanas of Mexico and Central America, (genus
Ctenosaura), which are united by the possession of a spiky tail
that can be used to defend itself (2). The Guatemalan spiny-
tailed iguana has a relatively slender body that is greyish-
brown with some blackish banding. It also exhibits a large
dewlap, (a flap of skin that lies under the chin), that is more
conspicuous in adult males than females, and a row of flattened
spines runs along the centre of the back. Until 1997, the
Guatemalan spiny-tailed iguana was considered the same species
as Ctenosaura melanosterna, the Rio Aguan Valley iguana, but
they were separated based on a numbe