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Posted by ebolian on December 08, 2002 at 14:55:40:
In Reply to: Re: Help With Research Project posted by PH Meliss on December 08, 2002 at 12:51:27:
:Ed, have you read biologist Gordon Rodda's study correlating SVL with dorsal (or was it nuchal?) spike height and femoral pore diameter? (1991. Sexing Iguana iguana. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 26(8):173). He worked in the field, examining wild iguanas. He found that the earliest visual sexing could be done was at 8" SVL. There's some more data on size and sexual maturity in some of the chapters on green igs in Iguanas of the World: Their behavior, ecology and conservation (Gordon Burghardt & A. Stanley Rand, eds), such as Harris's The phenology, growth, and survival of the Green Iguana, Iguana iguana, in Northern Columbia.
:Are you recording the SVL of the iguanas in your study group and in the data you are requesting from others? Since iguana tail length naturally varies from 2 (usually 2.5)-3 x body length, going just by STL alone is going to skew the data as an iguana who is 8" SVL may be anywhere from 24-32" SVL.
:FWIW, from the time I started working with iguanas, especially doing rescue and education, I've only encountered a couple of individuals, out of literally hundreds, that I've not been able to accurately assess at 8" or over 1 year old (as some poorly cared for igs may be less than 8" by the time they are one year).
:I'm with Iguana Joe on gender not really mattering when it comes to choosing an iguana for a pet, especially if it is going to be the only iguana someone has at any given time. Both sexes come complete with their own sets of sex-linked behavior and health issues, so one isn't any more or less work or problem than the other. If one already has an iguana and is thinking of getting a second one, knowing the sex of the second one is one of the criterion important to the decision-making process, but not a fool-proof way of avoiding problems. Two females may not get along together, and some females are more territorial than males, so while one can make some assumptions based on males and females in general, one still needs to be prepared to house each iguana properly and completely separate from all the other iguanas if they decide to get more than one.
:All that being said, it will be interesting to see what you come up with! ;)
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:PH Meliss
:Pet Hobbyist Volunteer * Iguana Forum
:Iguanas for Dummies
:Anapsid.org: Herp & Green Iguana Care, Herp Societies/Rescues & Vets
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:Meliss,
Thanks for the input. I will look for those books. I measured the SVL and several other lengths of the animals within the test group. I did not see any correlation to the gender based solely on any particular measurement. Certain measurements were accurate when combined as in the regression equation. A statistician that contributed to my study experimented with many different combinations of measurements. The ones that were the most accurate at determining sex were the ones that I requested from the members of this board. My goal is to verify if my equation is effective for gender determination of iguanas outside of my initial test group. Therefore, the weight, head length, and the circumferences of the tail and hind leg are all that I currently need.
As for preferring a particular sex over the other, I do not feel that it should necessarily matter to an iguana owner but it may to some. For these people, a quick easy way to tell if the iguana is male or female may be important. If not for selection, then for naming. How many iguanas go through life with one given name that later does not correlate to their sex. I have a twelve year old female iguana that still has the name George. I found out when she laid eggs that George was a female. At this point I did not wish to change her name but if I had known that she was a female when i purchased her, I would have chosen a more gender-appropriate name. This study is simply aimed at providing iguana owners with more information about their pets that they may not be able to find out other ways.
I hope that this helps you understand that I do not prefer male iguanas to female iguanas or vice versa. I just feel that their are advantages to knowing.
Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from more of you.
Ed Bolian
