The Club tail iguana or Five-keeled Spiny-tailed Iguana is a species of lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

 in the Iguanidae

Iguanidae

Iguanidae is a family of lizards, composed of iguanas and related species.-Classification of Iguanidae:Two different classification schemes have been used to define the structure of this family. These are the "traditional" classification and the classification presented by Frost et al. .Frost et...

 family native to Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

 and Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

.
Its natural habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 is subtropical or tropical dry forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

s. It is threatened in its native range by habitat loss.

Taxonomy and etymology

Ctenosaura quinquecarinata was first described by zoologist

Zoology

Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

 John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray

John Edward Gray, FRS was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray ....

 in 1842 as Cyclura quinquecarinata; 52 years later it was redesignated by Marie Firmin Bocourt

Marie Firmin Bocourt

Marie Firmin Bocourt was a French zoologist and artist.In zoology, Bocourt collaborated with Auguste Duméril. In 1861, he was sent to Thailand , where he explored the fauna and brought back an important collection of specimens...

 as Ctenosaura quinquecarinata. The generic

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 name, Ctenosaura, is derived from two Greek

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...

 words: cteno (Κτενός), meaning "comb" (referring to the comblike spines on the lizard's back and tail), and saura (σαύρα), meaning "lizard". Its specific

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 name quinquecarinata is a combination of two Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 words: quinque meaning "five" and carinata meaning "keeled" and refers to the five rows of scales

Scale (zoology)

In most biological nomenclature, a scale is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration...

on the animal's tail.

Description

The tail on this species is heavily armored with five rings of spines forming longitudinal ridges. Males of the species grow to a length of 35 centimetres (13.8 in) whereas females attain 18.5 centimetres (7.3 in). Like most Ctenosaura the iguanas are born a bright green color fading to brown as the animal ages. The females tend to turn a uniform drab brown in color, and males develop tones of black, blue and yellow on their bodies and heads over the brown background.

Threats

Total population size is not known, but it is estimated that there may be fewer than 2,500 mature individuals. It is threatened by habitat loss through deforestation, overcollection through an unregulated exploitation for the pet trade, and it is even hunted by humans as a food item.