 The green iguana ranges over a large geographic area; it is native from southern Brazil and Paraguay as far north as Mexico, and have been introduced from South America to Puerto Rico and are very common throughout the island, where they are colloquially known as "gallina de palo" ("bamboo chicken" or "chicken of the trees") and considered an invasive species; in the United States, feral populations also exist in South Florida (including the Florida Keys), Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.A herbivore, it has adapted significantly with regard to locomotion and osmoregulation as a result of its diet.It grows to in length from head to tail, although a few specimens have grown more than with bodyweights upward of .