''Lapitiguana impensa'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

giant (1.5 m long)

iguanid The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana. Taxonomy Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphy ...

from

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. It probably became extinct following the human colonization of Fiji 3000 years ago. All extant Fijian iguanas are in the genus ''

Brachylophus The genus ''Brachylophus'' consists of four extant iguanid species native to the islands of Fiji and a giant extinct species from Tonga in the South West Pacific. One of the extant species, ''B. fasciatus'', is also present on Tonga, where it ha ...

'', together with an extinct species from Tonga. The closest living relatives of the

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

n iguanas are found in the Americas.

References

External links

Fossil remains of the giant iguana ''Lapitiguana impensa''Lapitiguana impensa; holotype
Quaternary reptiles Iguanidae Reptiles of Fiji Fossil taxa described in 2003 Reptile genera Holocene extinctions {{paleo-lizard-stub

See also

References

External links