Endangered
Brachylophus bulabula
Brachylophus bulabula
Brachylophus bulabula, called the Central Fijian banded iguana is a iguanid lizard endemic to some of the larger central and northwestern islands of Fiji (Ovalau, Kadavu and Viti Levu), where it occurs in Fijian wet forest.
Appearance
Males are typically are green with blue stripes and the females are green with white stripes.
It was described by a team led by a scientist from the Australian National University in 2008.
Range and habitat
Brachylophus bulabula, called the Central Fijian banded iguana is a iguanid lizard endemic to some of the larger central and northwestern islands of Fiji (Ovalau, Kadavu and Viti Levu), where it occurs in Fijian wet forest. It is one of the few species of iguana found outside of the New World and one of the most geographically isolated members of the family Iguanidae. Initially also reported from Gau Island, in 2017 this population was described as a separate species, B. Gau.
Fijian banded iguana typically are found in tropical wet islands that are typically 650-1700 feet above sea level.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Fiji iguanas are herbivorous. They feed on the leaves, fruit, and flowers of trees and shrubs, particularly hibiscus flowers of the Vau tree (Hibiscus tiliaceus) and fruit such as banana and papaya. When certain fruits are not as abundant, Fiji banded iguanas may also forage for leaves and other native plant species.
Hatchlings may feed on insects. Even so, adults usually will not. To attract a mate, male Fiji banded iguanas will often times stick out their tongues and flick them repeatedly.
In crisis
Brachylophus bulabula is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Brachylophus bulabula, Wikidata item Q2923312. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
