Pink Iguanas!

[3113]

No, they're not a cocktail. But they are an important clue to evolution that Darwin, though no fault of his own, missed on his visit to the Galapagos.

Pink iguanas unknown to Charles Darwin during his visits to the Galapagos islands may provide evidence of species divergence far earlier than the English naturalist's famous finches, researchers said Monday. The findings also for the first time describe the black-striped reptiles -- first seen in 1986 and only a few more times since -- as a new species, said Gabriele Gentile of the University Tor Vergata in Rome, who led the study. They also add to understanding of the evolution of species on the remote islands, which remain much as they were millions of years ago and which inspired Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. Many of its species are found nowhere else.

"Despite the attention given to them, the Galapagos have not yet finished offering evolutionary novelties," Gentile and colleagues wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "So far, this species is the only evidence of ancient diversification along the Galapagos land iguana lineage and documents one of the oldest events of divergence ever recorded in the Galapagos."

...Darwin did not visit areas inhabited by the pink land iguana and so missed the species, whose existence suggests diversification in the Galapagos happened some five million years ago. That is far earlier than attributed to most other Galapagos species like the finches, Gentile said. "We were not the first to see this form but we were the first to say what it is and that it is a new species," Gentile said in a telephone interview.

A genetic analysis showed that the pink reptile likely originated in the Galapagos and split from other iguana populations some five million years ago when the archipelago was still forming, the researchers said. The creatures only seem to live near a single volcano at most 350,000 years old, which means the reptiles that grow longer than a meter and up to 12 kilograms must have at one time existed elsewhere in the Galapagos, Gentile said. The researchers documented fewer than 40 of the iguanas over two years and Gentile said conservation efforts and funds are urgently needed to keep the species from dying off. "We think the population is very small and there is a great risk of extinction," Gentile said.

Full article here. Handsome devils, ain't they?

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20090106/capt.cps.orx14.060109030206.photo00.photo.default-512x348.jpg?x=213&y=145&xc=1&yc=1&wc=408&hc=278&q=100&sig=zocFJ3y7Tlv0N6OZzIRCOQ--

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Ordinarily pink is almost nauseatingly cute but whatever these guys are, cute doesn't apply. Handsome, I'll go along with.

 

[TE999]

An impressive reptile indeed.

I wonder what's driving them to extinction...and if they do become extinct without human intervention...is that not the process of natural selection/ survival of the fittest in action?

 

[3113]

Actually, I think we should create a "pink iguana" cocktail, in honor of these noble beasts and their evolutionary importance

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Actually, I think we should create a "pink iguana" cocktail, in honor of these noble beasts and their evolutionary importance

Or open another upscale motel in Ojai to go along with the Blue Iguana Inn and the Green Iguana. Perhaps the Pink Iguana might have . . . nah, forget I was even thinking that.

 

[TE999]

Or open another upscale motel in Ojai to go along with the Blue Iguana Inn and the Green Iguana. Perhaps the Pink Iguana might have . . . nah, forget I was even thinking that.

Is that sort of thing legal in Cali ?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Is that sort of thing legal in Cali ?

Opening a motel? Sure.

 

[TE999]

Opening a motel? Sure.

But a No-Tell Motel?

 

[Safe_Bet]

A genetic analysis showed that the pink reptile likely originated in the Galapagos and split from other iguana populations

Makes perfect sense to me. Those fundie regular iguana's wouldn't let the pink iguana's marry so they said "screw you" and went and lived by the volcano. Don't blame them a bit!

 

[TE999]

Makes perfect sense to me. Those fundie regular iguana's wouldn't let the pink iguana's marry so they said "screw you" and went and lived by the volcano. Don't blame them a bit!

Does this mean the pink ones are Gay...or just 'different'?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Does this mean the pink ones are Gay...or just 'different'?

They prefer the term "Queer," I think.

 

[TE999]

They prefer the term "Queer," I think.

Roger that...didn't want to offend any pink iguanas that might be watching tonight.

 

[Weird Harold]

No, they're not a cocktail. But they are an important clue to evolution that Darwin, though no fault of his own, missed on his visit to the Galapagos.


Full article here. Handsome devils, ain't they?

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20090106/capt.cps.orx14.060109030206.photo00.photo.default-512x348.jpg?x=213&y=145&xc=1&yc=1&wc=408&hc=278&q=100&sig=zocFJ3y7Tlv0N6OZzIRCOQ--

I thought this was going to be a thread about a new fad in ugly lawn ornaments.

 

[3113]

I thought this was going to be a thread about a new fad in ugly lawn ornaments.

Well, I think they make very nice lawn ornaments, don't you?

 

[shereads]

They prefer the term "Queer," I think.

Yes, so do Teletubbies.

 

[Safe_Bet]

Roger that...didn't want to offend any pink iguanas that might be watching tonight.

Hey relax. You know that saying "Once you go pink Iguana, you never go back" or sumthing like that...