This sneaky pink iguana evaded Charles Darwin's attention
It was discovered at Volcan Wolf, Isabela Island's northernmost volcano, which Darwin missed during his five-week stay at the archipelago in 1835.
Galapagos National Park rangers first stumbled upon the striking land lizard a few decades ago, but this week's study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to officially document the iguana.
Based on blood samples and DNA analysis, it is believed that about 10.5 million years ago a common ancestor to both marine and land iguanas from Central or South America colonized the Galapagos Islands, and that the "rosada" originated about 5 million years ago.
Fast air travel and telecommunications might make us believe that the Earth got smaller, but it's still pretty big and full of marvels to discover.
- added January 07, 2009
- flag
-
Darwin is fascinating, single-handedly redefining our origin with his widely accepted & globally proven "Theory of Evolution".
-
-
-
-
- darkhorsejim
- 6 months ago
-
-
lol
-
He is too cute!!!
-
Amazing that new life forms are still being found around the globe, both on land and ocean alike. Instead of using money to destroy and conquer, maybe governments should research and fix the problems that it has caused, and research what can be done for these ancient creatures, and preserve their existence. Many creatures face extinction because of the acts of humans, we need to protect and preserve what is left of out great planet.
-
Wow! How cool! This is definitely a reptile that should be protected and preserved.
-
pick and choose? I am not an environmentalist but they should all be protected. luv the color too
-
Like I said, is not Pink, is just a Tan!
