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Description
A monkey iguana regales itself with a fruit, northern South America, 35 million years in the future.

The monkey iguana or skull-faced iguana Dendroguana spectralis is a medium-sized arboreal iguanid found in northern South America.

This species of iguana, which descends from the green iguana Iguana iguana, has developed multiple adaptations for arboreal life. The body is short and compact, legs are long and powerful, allowing the animal to execute long jumps from one tree to another, fingers are grasping and possess big claws, and tail is half prehensile.
Monkey iguana´s head is short and broad, slightly recalling the modern Galapagos´ sea iguana. This iguana possesses a brain capacity unusually big for a reptile, which is expressed in its high intelligence and social habits.
The big, yellow-coloured eyes are almost stereoscopical.
One of the most remarkable features from this creature are the nape spines. These spines form a high crest above the head and can be raised and lowered, expressing mood.

The name "skull-faced iguana" reflects the special coloration of the head: white with dark spots around the eyes and the edges of the mouth. Body coloration goes from bottle green to dark dun-green with bright strips scattering through the sides.

Due to the highly warm climate of the zone which inhabits, this active reptile has developed an adaptation in order to avoid overheating. The skin plica in its throat is rather elastic and contains a broad network of blood vessels and, though it is retracted most of the times, it can be irrigated with blood and be expanded up to 4 times its original size. Sometimes these animals can be seen resting with their protracted dewlap, having lifted their chest and having twisted their heads upwards.
The dewlap, colored in bright red, is also an important element during intraspecific encounters, specially at the courtship rituals.

These creatures are unusually intelligent for a reptile and, despite being mostly solitary animals, they sometimes gather in groups of 4-5 individuals and during courtship season they show complex intraspecific behaviour.

The diet of the monkey iguana includes fruits, flowers, leaves and insects.

This reptile, unlike its ancestors, lays the eggs in the tree canopy, usually in concealed places like hollow trunks.

Description
A monkey iguana regales itself with a fruit, northern South America, 35 million years in the future.

The monkey iguana or skull-faced iguana Dendroguana spectralis is a medium-sized arboreal iguanid found in northern South America.

This species of iguana, which descends from the green iguana Iguana iguana, has developed multiple adaptations for arboreal life. The body is short and compact, legs are long and powerful, allowing the animal to execute long jumps from one tree to another, fingers are grasping and possess big claws, and tail is half prehensile.
Monkey iguana´s head is short and broad, slightly recalling the modern Galapagos´ sea iguana. This iguana possesses a brain capacity unusually big for a reptile, which is expressed in its high intelligence and social habits.
The big, yellow-coloured eyes are almost stereoscopical.
One of the most remarkable features from this creature are the nape spines. These spines form a high crest above the head and can be raised and lowered, expressing mood.

The name "skull-faced iguana" reflects the special coloration of the head: white with dark spots around the eyes and the edges of the mouth. Body coloration goes from bottle green to dark dun-green with bright strips scattering through the sides.

Due to the highly warm climate of the zone which inhabits, this active reptile has developed an adaptation in order to avoid overheating. The skin plica in its throat is rather elastic and contains a broad network of blood vessels and, though it is retracted most of the times, it can be irrigated with blood and be expanded up to 4 times its original size. Sometimes these animals can be seen resting with their protracted dewlap, having lifted their chest and having twisted their heads upwards.
The dewlap, colored in bright red, is also an important element during intraspecific encounters, specially at the courtship rituals.

These creatures are unusually intelligent for a reptile and, despite being mostly solitary animals, they sometimes gather in groups of 4-5 individuals and during courtship season they show complex intraspecific behaviour.

The diet of the monkey iguana includes fruits, flowers, leaves and insects.

This reptile, unlike its ancestors, lays the eggs in the tree canopy, usually in concealed places like hollow trunks.