{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,5]],"date-time":"2026-05-05T14:33:14Z","timestamp":1777991594042,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]],"date-time":"2024-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1721001600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000153","name":"NSF DBI","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["2109461"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2109461"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000153","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>We provide a detailed and first description of the skull, hyoid apparatus, and trachea of the Turks and Caicos rock iguana, <jats:italic>Cyclura carinata<\/jats:italic> (Squamata: Iguanidae). <jats:italic>Cyclura<\/jats:italic> is a radiation of iguanas restricted to islands of the Caribbean Sea. Species of <jats:italic>Cyclura<\/jats:italic> have high rates of endemism, and all species are severely threatened with extinction. Our anatomical description of this threatened iguana is based on high-resolution computed tomography scans of one adult, one putative adult or near adult, and one juvenile specimen, and includes three-dimensional segmented renderings and visualizations. We discuss some observations of intraspecific and ontogenetic variation, and provide a brief comparison with specimens of another species of <jats:italic>Cyclura<\/jats:italic> and published descriptions of other iguanas. Our study provides a cranial osteological framework for <jats:italic>Cyclura<\/jats:italic> and augments the body of knowledge on iguana anatomy generally. Finally, we posit that our description and future studies may facilitate identification of fossil <jats:italic>Cyclura<\/jats:italic>, which could help understand the paleobiogeography of the genus.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.17595","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]],"date-time":"2024-07-15T07:26:44Z","timestamp":1721028404000},"page":"e17595","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["The skull of the Turks and Caicos rock iguana, <i>Cyclura carinata<\/i> (Squamata: Iguanidae)"],"prefix":"10.7717","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Chloe","family":"Lai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Califiornia,  United States of America"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Simon G.","family":"Scarpetta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, Califiornia,  United States of America"},{"name":"Department of Environmental Science, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA,  United States of America"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"4443","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-1","first-page":"196","article-title":"Introduction: conservation","volume-title":"Iguanas: biology and conservation","author":"Alberts","year":"2004"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-2","article-title":"Evolution of the iguanine lizards (Sauria, Iguanidae) as determined by osteological and myological characters","author":"Avery","year":"1970","journal-title":"Phd dissertation"},{"key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-3","first-page":"vi+79","article-title":"Evolution of the iguanine lizards (Sauria, Iguanidae) as determined by osteological and myological characters","volume":"12","author":"Avery","year":"1971","journal-title":"Brigham Young University Science Bulletin, Biological Series"},{"issue":"1\u20132","key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"30","DOI":"10.1016\/j.quaint.2009.08.009","article-title":"Covert biases, circularity, and apomorphies: a critical look at the North American Quaternary Herpetofaunal Stability Hypothesis","volume":"217","author":"Bell","year":"2010","journal-title":"Quaternary International"},{"issue":"3","key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1002\/ar.22852","article-title":"Not enough skeletons in the closet: collections-based anatomical research in an age of conservation conscience","volume":"297","author":"Bell","year":"2014","journal-title":"The Anatomical Record"},{"issue":"1","key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-6","first-page":"4A:36","article-title":"The Ossified Braincase and Cephalic Osteoderms of Shinisaurus Crocodilurus (Squamata, Shinisauridae)","volume":"8","author":"Bever","year":"2005","journal-title":"Palaeontologia Electronica"},{"issue":"2","key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1670\/14-170","article-title":"Osteological differentiation of the Iguana Laurenti, 1768 (Squamata: Iguanidae) species: Iguana iguana (Linnaeus, 1758) and Iguana delicatissima Laurenti, 1768, with some comments on their hybrids","volume":"50","author":"Bochaton","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of Herpetology"},{"issue":"Monograph 6","key":"10.7717\/peerj.17595\/ref-8","first-page":"4","article-title":"A checklist of the iguanas of the world (Iguanidae; Iguanidae). 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