查爾斯·達(dá)爾文在他訪問加拉帕戈斯群島的時候忽略的一種粉色陸地鬣蜥物種可能提供了這種古老動物在這個群島上的分化提供了證據(jù),。達(dá)爾文在1835年訪問加拉帕戈斯群島的時候沒能探索伊莎貝爾島上的Volcan Wolf火山，那是新發(fā)現(xiàn)的Conolophus屬陸地鬣蜥——“rosada” 鬣蜥的唯一家園,。
Gabriele Gentile及其同事對rosada鬣蜥和其他陸地鬣蜥進(jìn)行的遺傳分析表明rosada鬣蜥起源自超過500萬年前的加拉帕戈斯，而且在這個群島仍然在形成的過程中與島上的其它鬣蜥種群分開了。Rosada鬣蜥和其他陸地鬣蜥的古老分化——早在Volcan Wolf火山形成之前——為加拉帕戈斯群島記錄的最古老的分化事件之一提供了證據(jù)。這組作者警告說,，這種最近才被承認(rèn)的鬣蜥物種可能已經(jīng)瀕危，而且可能會滅絕,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
PNAS January 5, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0806339106
An overlooked pink species of land iguana in the Galápagos
Gabriele Gentilea,1, Anna Fabiania, Cruz Marquezb, Howard L. Snellc, Heidi M. Snellc, Washington Tapiad, and Valerio Sbordonia
aDipartimento di Biologia, Università Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy
bCharles Darwin Foundation, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
cDepartment of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131; and
dGalápagos National Park Service, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Despite the attention given to them, the Galápagos have not yet finished offering evolutionary novelties. When Darwin visited the Galápagos, he observed both marine (Amblyrhynchus) and land (Conolophus) iguanas but did not encounter a rare pink black-striped land iguana (herein referred to as “rosada,” meaning “pink” in Spanish), which, surprisingly, remained unseen until 1986. Here, we show that substantial genetic isolation exists between the rosada and syntopic yellow forms and that the rosada is basal to extant taxonomically recognized Galápagos land iguanas. The rosada, whose present distribution is a conundrum, is a relict lineage whose origin dates back to a period when at least some of the present-day islands had not yet formed. So far, this species is the only evidence of ancient diversification along the Galápagos land iguana lineage and documents one of the oldest events of divergence ever recorded in the Galápagos. Conservation efforts are needed to prevent this form, identified by us as a good species, from extinction.
