How to Find and Discover New Animals and Reptiles in the Modern Era

A new iguana has been discovered! It was discovered in the central region of Fiji, and with it came some extra clues to a mystery. It is called the Brachylophus Bulabula. Bulabula is the word bula, but said twice. Bula is a Fijian word that actually means hello. This now brings the number up to three known living species of Pacific iguana.

This discovery is considered an amazing one because pacific iguanas are quickly disappearing. This started with the arrival of people nearly three thousand years ago. At least two other Pacific species disappeared because people ate them to death. Now, the remaining three species are in danger. There territories are being destroyed, and there is and increase in competition and predators alike.

The crested iguana's Latin name is Brachylophus vitiensis, it has almost completely vanished from most of islands that it once lived on. It is now listed as a Critically Endangered species and placed on the “red list” of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, also known as the IUCN. The IUCN is officially the largest global environmental network.

Robert Fisher is one of the research zoologists at United States geological survey in San Diego. He said “Unfortunately, this new study indicates that the other previously identified Pacific iguana species, Brachyophus Fasciatus, is probably critically endangered also.” This was said in reference to a study that found that for each of the thirteen islands that have living iguanas that they sampled, there was at least one genetic line found only in them.

The mystery that hangs about the iguanas that live in Fiji puzzle both biologists and geographers is a simple question. How is it that the pacific iguanas made it to Fiji? Their closest relatives are currently living about five thousand miles away. This 5,000 mile trip takes you to the Americas. Scientists now have a theory on how this happened.

The tallest islands have been higher than sea level for, at the very least, 16 million years. There are studies that suggest that the Pacific Iguanas, both the extinct and the living included, were on those islands for a lot of that time. In fact, scientists have guessed that some of their ancestors may have been there as long as 13 million years ago. They are guessing that a nice long five thousand mile rafting voyage brought the iguanas to the Fijian islands. Who knows, maybe some new clues will be unraveled through more species and more genetics to study.