Cyclura cornuta
Silhouette: Sachin Bhardwaj Lock · PhyloPic
In 3 days >90%
The rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta) is an endangered species of iguana that is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and its surrounding islands. A large lizard, they vary in length from 60 to 136 centimetres (24 to 54 in), and skin colours range from a steely grey to a dark green and even brown. Their name derives from the bony-plated pseudo-horn or outgrowth which resembles the horn of a rhinoceros on the iguana's snout. It is known to coexist with the Ricord's iguana (C. ricordii); the two species are the only taxa of rock iguana to do so.
The rhinoceros iguana is a species of lizard belonging to the genus Cyclura. The rhinoceros iguana's specific name, cornuta, is the feminine form of the Latin adjective cornutus, meaning "horned" and refers to the horned projections on the snouts of males of the species. The species was first identified by Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre in 1789.
The Mona ground iguana (Cyclura stejnegeri) from Puerto Rico was originally thought to... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jaragua National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic |
More parks will be added in future updates.
No species of the same family or order lives in Jaragua National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Very likely
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Iguana sighting in Jaragua National Park on a given day, based on 68 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 9 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August–September and November–February
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Rhinoceros Iguana in Jaragua National Park on a given day, against about 20% in May, the lowest month.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rhinoceros Iguana sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Jaragua National Park, in our data
Jaragua National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Rhinoceros Iguana sightings: about 70% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rhinoceros Iguana is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Jaragua National Park (68 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
