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Dr. Del Tackett is the author, architect and teacher for Focus on the Family's The Truth Project, a nationwide initiative designed to bring the Christian worldview to the body of Christ.
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It’s an Iguana!
Posted on April 20, 2009
Filed Under Science | 15 Comments
I’m not an expert in iguanas, so those of you who are can correct me, but I think it is a green iguana…iguana iguana.
So several of you were right. It was a close-up of his front legs.
I also think it is a male because of the fold of skin under his neck (called a dewlap).
He was kind enough to let me take a lot of pictures. The few iguanas I have run into before have been pretty skittish, but he actually posed for me…first this side, then the other, then a straight-on look…for effect, of course.
I felt like a fashion photographer.
I asked him to stand up and give me his impression of the Geico Gecko, but he wasn’t interested.
Anyway, here he is. He was hanging around the patio of my room in Weston, Florida a few weeks ago. From nose to tail tip, I believe he was about five or six feet long. His tail was over half of that. Maybe, for some of you, this is common. But he looked huge to me. The others I had seen weren’t close to this size.
He fascinated me.
He looked like he was covered in mail armor and with the spines on his back I thought he would make a great Jurassic Park creature if he were just 10 times bigger. He looked “dinosaur-ish” to me…especially his head. Now, we don’t know how dinosaurs “really” looked, because we have creatively made up a lot of the soft tissue on their skeletons. But whatever they did look like, I can’t imagine some of them not appearing a lot like this guy on the outside…just in jumbo scale.
A sixty-foot iguana…now that would be a scary thing to run into in a dark alley!
Well, I’m sure those of you who have lived around iguanas are wondering what in the world I got so excited over. Well, a guy who grew up in Idaho finds these things to be exotic creatures. The only reptiles we had there were things like rattle snakes…not the best thing to do a personal photo-shoot with.
It’s hard not to see the intricate design in this guy.
By the way, his tail is made so it can break off if a prey grabs it. He just simply grows a new one.
Isn’t God’s creation amazing!
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15 Responses to “It’s an Iguana!”
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Fascinating pictures, but I think I would have screamed had I seen that on my porch. I know such a girl and proud of it too.
Del:
I had the pleasure of coming to see you during your visit to First Baptist at Weston, but I did not have the opportunity to meet you and shake your hand. Thank you for the Truth Project, my wife and I enjoyed every minute of it. It has help me crack open my cocoon! btw, I don’t believe the iguana is indiginous to Florida so you may have been taking pictures of someone’s escaped pet!!
This is very facinating. My mother had an iguana, and it looked so lonely in it’s box. These guys need to be free.
Oh, I love this. Will be showing the smaller picture to my 7 and 5 year old boys and let them have a go at guessing.
I must add that I loved what you shared at our church this past Sunday in NM. It has gotten me to read a little more of 2 Kings during my quiet time this week.
Blessings to you and yours!
Actually, Del, I don’t believe the Iguana’s tail breaks off like other lizards. They use it as a weapon and it is very tough – and can cut. Our neighbor’s old dog had his face all cut up from chasing iguanas when I was a boy growing up in Brazil. Iguanas were common and a real threat to the chickens, along with the south american equivalent to the monitor lizard who’s english name I can never remember.
The iguana is pretty much omnivorous. They eat fruits and leaves and smaller birds and animals. I’ve seen them up to about 6 feet long which means your’s was on the upper end of the scale. I’m not sure how long they officially get to, but even a six or seven foot long one is an impressive sight. Thanks for sharing the pictures. He’s colored a bit different from the ones around our place in Brazil – and much prettier than the Galapagos Islands variety.
What freaks me out is that when a lizard’s tail off…IT STILL MOVES. We have geckos that get in our house and I came home and my son told me to look at something in the sink. There was a gecko’s tail flopping around, it scared me to death. Then eventually if flopped it’s way down the drain. You are correct, God is amazing. Thank you for showing me just how amazing He is through your truth project. You are a blessing.
Yes, Del. It is simply God’s glory revealed in a lizard. He is just being exactly what God intended for him to be…
Hi,
My what a beautiful specimen. I rescued one very much like her from under a tree in a park on the coldest day of the year…and she was my friend and companion for 11 years. They are indeed fascinating, and yes, I believe the one in your picture is female. Both sexes have dewlaps, folds of skin under the chin. In males, the big circular scales on the neck are much larger and more pronounced, also they typically have a pronounced “hump” to the dorsal crest near the back of the head.
Thanks so much for the picture. It brought back to me the memory of a wonderful, personal, gift from God.
PS.
The tail does break off…but not at the base. and if the lizard is healthy; it grows back quickly.
Hi Del,
Thanks for sharing these pictures. We found one years ago near our apartment complex in San Diego and eventually the owner was found but in the meantime our kids had a great time learning about him. They found him very intriquing yet his claws scratched us too much to pick him up. When the owner came she picked him right up and placed him on her chest – this was supposedly the best way to hold him! What a great science project for our homeschoolers at the time.
Thanks for your presentations of the Truth Project – we are half way through the series.
I would be totally fascinated by this as well. There are no lizards/iquanas etc. in Canada!! Nice photos.
I’ve heard a number of places that reptiles continue to grow throughout their lives. If this is the case, and you consider the long lifespans of Abraham’s ancestors as indicative that animals may also have had vastly longer lifespans – maybe there were 60 ft iguanas. I’ve often thought about how much such a creature would resemble the dragon of myths and legends.
Maybe I’m a strange girl, but I love iguanas! I’ve always been fascinated by dinosaurs, so they are the next best thing.
i like it
I never seen a iguana like that.
[Awesome, no? He was huge. Blessings! dt]
Seriocly I’m learning the Amazon Rainforest By Carole Marsh It’s really good to me and my class……And read the Idiarod Race. It was good
[Haven't read them, but I am in awe at the creation around us. Read on, Elisabeth! dt]