Bahama Curly Tail

Leiocephalus

There you pause, curly tailed relative of the dinosaur, carrier of ancient genes so exotic and enduring, transoceanic colonizer of the Caribbean islands. Among the hundreds of lizards and the 13 Iguanidae in the Bahamas, your relatives are both endangered reptiles or an abundant pest. Your beauty must be studied as extraordinary orderly rows of scales like glistening medieval chainmail fit you like a glove. You pause seductively flicking your removable tail as if you would allow a touch, but when some invisible barrier is breached you sprint across the sand to hide beneath large-leaved tropical hedges. You are common here and no one notices but me and perhaps a hungry bird? Yes, you have been here before me and will be here after I am gone.