Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Marine Iguana: Ugly? Smart?

The Cockroach Catcher was quiet for a while as he was in Galapagos puzzling over what Darwin discovered years ago. Marine Iguanas only exist in Galapagos and I must say I am still pondering if it was evolution or natural selection! 













I have always known that marine iguanas can hold their breath to avoid detection by sharks and they reduce their heart rate by 50% to keep foraging under the cold Galapagos sea water, but I did not know that they can shrink their body when food is in short supply and that includes their skeleton!


Every few years, a weather event called El Niño takes place, taking much of the iguanas’ food with it.

The largest iguanas are the first to die, because the largest bodies require the most energy.

So, the iguanas have come up with a solution, and managed to do something that no other vertebrate can do – they shrink. They can lose up to 20% of their size, by literally shrinking their skeleton.

But they don't shrink over the course of generations - they’re able to do this during their lifetime. Over a period of months, they break down their bone tissue before building it back up again after the storms.










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