QUITO – Scientists have found hatchling and juvenile populations of the Galapagos pink land iguana, an endangered reptile native to a sole island on the Ecuadorean archipelago, for the primary time because the species’ discovery simply a long time in the past.
Native solely to the slopes of Wolf Volcano on the Galapagos’ Isabela Island, the iguana is taken into account critically endangered and simply a number of hundred are left, based on estimates.
“This discovery marks a major step ahead, which permits us to determine a path going ahead to avoid wasting the pink iguana,” Director of the Galapagos Nationwide Park Danny Rueda mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.
The iguanas, which may stretch as much as 18.5 inches (47 cm) in size, had been first found by nationwide park rangers in 1986. Nonetheless, scientists took a long time to acknowledge the pink iguana as a separate species from others on the island.
Their inhabitants is threatened by launched species on the island, notably rodents, the nationwide park mentioned.
“Understanding all of the facets that make their existence weak will enable us to take well timed actions, primarily towards invasive species and thus keep away from interrupting the pure cycles of those fragile ecosystems,” Rueda mentioned.
The Galapagos Islands, with its distinctive wildlife, was a key pressure behind British scientist Charles Darwin’s principle of evolution. It's dwelling to a lot of species not discovered anyplace else together with large tortoises, flightless cormorants and several other species of iguanas, together with the pink iguana.
The Wolf Volcano is among the most distant spots monitored by the nationwide park, which put in a analysis and monitoring station at its base.
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