Pink Panther Tegu

Pink Panther Tegu, Tegus are also known as genus Tupinambis, they belong to the family Teiidae. They are usually mainly black and some have yellow, reddish or white bands along their backs. Others have lines going down their bodies and unique markings along their top.

Pink Panther Tegu body shape is aerodynamic with long tails and strong legs. Most tegus grow to about a metre long but the black and white tegu (T. Merianae) can grow to about 1.3 metres. Tegus use their tongues and jacobson’s organ/ vomeronasal to find chemical cues associated with their prey and other lizards. A Jacobson’s organ is an organ of chemoreception located in the main nasal chamber.

Tegus can survive in rainforests, savannas, swamps, meadows, and open fields. Pink Panther Tegu are omnivores and eats seeds, berries, fruits, small rodents, insects, eggs, amphibians, mollusks and birds. The average lifespan of a tegu is 15-20 years.

Tegus can regulate their own body temperature and raise their body temperature by 10 degrees celsius above their surroundings so they can survive in and out of the warm climate. They tend to live on the edge of rainforests so they can get access to light and water. Tegus seek out food with more protein so they mainly eat seeds, berries, fruits, small rodents, insects, amphibians, mollusks and birds so the rainforest floor is the perfect place for them to get their food as berries, fruits e.g fall from trees onto the floor and the forest floor is filled with dead birds and rodents. Pink Panther Tegu have very strong jaws due to their short thick skulls that are very well muscled so protecting themselves isn’t very hard. To show other animals that they are angry they stomp their feet, lashing its tail and huffing loudly.

Although Pink Panther Tegu monitor lizards, they are only distantly related to them; the similarities are a result of convergent evolution.