Galàpagos Secrets

174 years after Darwin visited the Galàpagos Islands, the islands still hold secrets of evolution to discover. In the current issue of the PNAS, Gabriele Gentile et al. report the observation of a formerly unknown species of land iguanas. The conopholus rosada (pink) iguanas live at Volcan Wolf, the northern most volcano in isabela. The investigation by Gentile et al. demonstrate that this species is the only evidence of ancient diversification along the Galàpagos land iguana lineage and one of the oldest events of divergence ever recorded in the Galàpagos.

PNAS 2009;106,507-511