# Green iguana (*Iguana iguana*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/green-iguana  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The green iguana (Iguana iguana) is a lizard in the family Iguanidae, part of the order Squamata within the class Reptilia. It falls in the medium size class, with an adult body mass of 1.53 kg and a body length of 35.49 cm. Its lifespan is 12.4 years, with values up to 19.8 years reported, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 484 g – 1.53 kg |
| Length | 31.1 cm – 35.5 cm |
| Lifespan | 12.4 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 28 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | forest |
| Egg incubation | 89 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 9 – 71 |
| Age at maturity | 21 months – 5 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Arboreal |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Iguanidae
- genus: Iguana
- species: *Iguana iguana* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Iguana coerulea*, *Iguana emarginata*, *Iguana hernandessi*, *Iguana iguana rhinolopha*, *Iguana lophryoides*, *Iguana lophyroides*, *Iguana melanoderma*, *Iguana minima*, *Iguana rhinolophus*, *Iguana sapidissima*, *Iguana squamosa*, *Iguana tuberculata*, *Iguana viridis*, *Iguana vulgaris*, *Lacerta iguana*, *Lacerta igvana*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the green iguana?

The green iguana is a lizard, a reptile in the family Iguanidae and the order Squamata.

### How heavy is a green iguana?

An adult Green iguana has a body mass of 1.53 kg, placing it in the medium size class. Its body length is 35.49 cm.

### How long does a green iguana live?

The green iguana has a lifespan of 12.4 years, with values up to 19.8 years reported by sources.

### Is the green iguana endangered?

No. The IUCN lists the green iguana as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does a green iguana lay?

A green iguana lays 35 eggs per clutch, with 1 clutch per year. The eggs incubate for 89 days.

### What other names does the green iguana have?

Other English names for the green iguana are Red iguana, Blue iguana, Black iguana, Common iguana and Bamboo chicken.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Green iguana (Iguana iguana). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/green-iguana