Pink Land Iguanas Classified as Separate Species in Galapagos
Pink iguanas, first discovered by Galapagos National Park rangers in 1986, are now thought to be a unique species of land iguana following the analysis of genetic tests on the species. The pink - or “rosada” - iguanas also differ from other land iguanas in striking ways: they have a pink and black-striped coloring, flat head scales, and a thick fatty crest on the back of the neck with small conical scales. Rosada also exhibits slightly different social behaviors than yellow or pallidus land iguanas.
The pink iguana (Conolophus subcristatus, rosada) population is thought to be incredibly small, existing entirely on the flanks of Volcan Wolf, perhaps small enough to put its survival in danger.
“Our studies would indicate that the population size is very small,” stated Dr. Gabriele Gentile, who led the new analysis. “We only collected 36 in two years; and last year a large research team hiked up Wolf and only found 10, and most of those were ones that we’d marked earlier,” he added.
A BBC News article reports that “these numbers are low enough to make rosada a Critically Endangered species - if, indeed, it is a separate species from its yellow relatives.” Dr. Gentile’s team is now preparing a formal description of the animal, and will be asking the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) to rule that it is separate and distinct.
Source: The Telegraph and the BBC