I’ve started making National Geographic one of my regular online stops, and I’m starting to realize just how fantastic this magazine is. A few days ago it reported that in 1971, five pairs of Italian wall lizards were moved onto a small Croatian island. Today, they’ve taken over, and their bodies have adapted to their new environment at an amazing rate.
Among other changes, the lizards developed never-before-seen “cecal valve” muscles” and an “expanded gut” to help digest the island’s tough vegetation, as well as longer, wider heads that allow for a harder bite, to rip stubborn leaves off of sturdy plants.
From National Geographic:
In just a few decades the 5-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) lizards have developed a completely new gut structure, larger heads, and a harder bite, researchers say.
n 1971, scientists transplanted five adult pairs of the reptiles from their original island home in Pod Kopiste to the tiny neighboring island of Pod Mrcaru, both in the south Adriatic Sea.
Genetic testing on the Pod Mrcaru lizards confirmed that the modern population of more than 5,000 Italian wall lizards are all descendants of the original ten lizards left behind in the 1970s.
Photo by Dr. Werner Mayer, via Wikipedia.
1 response so far ↓
1 Asher Vijay // Apr 27, 2008 at 3:37 pm
It sort of makes me wish that we could evolve so quickly… It would sure make winter easier!
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