# Marine iguana (*Amblyrhynchus cristatus*)

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

The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is a lizard in the family Iguanidae, order Squamata, within the reptiles. It is a medium-sized animal by adult body mass, with a representative adult weight of 1.82 kg, a reported range from 1.4 to 2.2 kg, and a body length of 42.7 cm. It has 1 clutch per year with 2.4 eggs or young per clutch, and eggs incubate for 103.5 days. The IUCN Red List classifies the marine iguana as Vulnerable, a threatened category, and its lifespan is given as 6.4 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 1.41 kg – 3.6 kg |
| Length | 32 cm – 42.7 cm |
| Lifespan | 6.4 years |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 28 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | marine |
| Egg incubation | 104 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 – 6 |
| Age at maturity | 3.42 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.5 – 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Marine |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Iguanidae
- genus: Amblyrhynchus
- species: *Amblyrhynchus cristatus* Bell, 1825

Synonyms: *Amblyrhincus demarlii*, *Amblyrhynchus cristatus albemarlensis*, *Amblyrhynchus nanus*

## Common questions

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

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

### How heavy is a marine iguana?

An adult marine iguana weighs 1.82 kg as a representative value, with reported weights from 1.4 to 2.2 kg.

### How long is a marine iguana?

The marine iguana has a representative body length of 42.7 cm.

### Is the marine iguana endangered?

The marine iguana is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.

### How long does a marine iguana live?

The lifespan of the marine iguana is given as 6.4 years.

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

The marine iguana has 2.4 eggs or young per clutch and 1 clutch per year. Eggs incubate for 103.5 days.

### Who named the marine iguana?

The marine iguana, Amblyrhynchus cristatus, was named by Bell, 1825.

## 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: Marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/marine-iguana