Historically, it inhabited the islands of Puerto Rico and Saint Thomas; however, the animal's original range has been greatly diminished over prehistory.

[8][9] Its specific name pinguis means "fat" and refers to the animal's stocky appearance and the common name "Stout iguana".

These bands fade and are generally lost as the animals mature, turning a uniform grayish or brownish-black with varying amounts of turquoise on the dorsal spines, tail base, fore and hind legs.

[4] However, due to direct competition with grazing livestock in its native habitat such as sheep, goats, burros, and cattle they have been reduced to eating vegetation rejected by these domestic and feral animals.

[4][5] This has also caused them to become opportunistic carnivores preying upon centipedes, millipedes, roaches, insects, and other invertebrates as opposed to being strict herbivores.

[4] Live Anegada iguanas used to regularly be sold to tourists as pets, as their rarity made them more appealing to exotic animal collectors, despite this being illegal under the CITES treaty.

[14] In 1999 a World Wildlife Fund international conservation officer, Stuart Chapman, said: "The British government has turned a blind eye for over 20 years to these overseas territories which are home to many rare and endangered species.

[12] This offsets the juvenile mortality rate and is accompanied by field research, nest site protection, and monitoring of released animals.