Blue Rock Iguana
Blue rock iguanas are a very mysterious animal. They have a light-sensitive organ on the top of their head, called a parietal eye. The cranial eyes only have basic retinas and lenses, which cannot generate images. They are only sensitive to light and darkness and used to detect movement.
The blue rock iguana is 2 meters long and weighs 14 kilograms as an adult. The body length is 51-76 cm, and the tail is about the same length as the body. The toes are clasped together, making them ideal for digging holes and climbing trees. Male lizards are one-third larger than female lizards. The skin of adult male lizards is dark gray to blue-green, while the skin of female lizards is olive green to light blue. Young lizards are dark brown or green in color with some darker patterns. There are eight dark mountain-shaped patterns on the back of the newly born baby lizard from the neck to the crown on the buttocks.
The pattern gradually fades when the young lizard is one year old, forming gray and milky white, and finally fades to blue. Adult blue rock iguanas are generally dark gray in color, matching the color of the surrounding karst rocks. They turn blue as they maintain the land and send out revelations. The blue color of male lizards is more obvious. Their feet are black, contrasting with their body color. Male lizards have nodules on their thighs that release pheromones. The female lizard has no nodes and the dorsal crest is not obvious.
The blue rock iguana's eyes have golden pupils and red sclera. It has excellent vision and can detect long-distance shapes and movements. Because blue rock iguanas only have a few rod cells, their vision in dark conditions is poor. There are double cone cells that are very sensitive to color and can even see ultraviolet rays. This ability is crucial for them to bask in the sun to absorb ultraviolet rays to produce vitamin D.
</p>
</p>