Jonathan Lambert

And they estimated that these iguanas split a little over 30 million years ago. Now, that timeline doesn't quite line up with the land bridge idea because such bridges would have been either underwater or covered in ice or just too cold for cold-blooded lizards at the time. So there would have been no way for iguanas to walk there.

And they estimated that these iguanas split a little over 30 million years ago. Now, that timeline doesn't quite line up with the land bridge idea because such bridges would have been either underwater or covered in ice or just too cold for cold-blooded lizards at the time. So there would have been no way for iguanas to walk there.

And they estimated that these iguanas split a little over 30 million years ago. Now, that timeline doesn't quite line up with the land bridge idea because such bridges would have been either underwater or covered in ice or just too cold for cold-blooded lizards at the time. So there would have been no way for iguanas to walk there.

Yeah. So it's also around the same time that Fiji itself formed from an underwater volcano.

Yeah. So it's also around the same time that Fiji itself formed from an underwater volcano.

Yeah. So it's also around the same time that Fiji itself formed from an underwater volcano.

And so to Scarpetta, that all suggests that at some point in the last 30 million years, some small group of iguanas just so happened to be on some raft of vegetation. And that raft drifted all the way to Fiji.

And so to Scarpetta, that all suggests that at some point in the last 30 million years, some small group of iguanas just so happened to be on some raft of vegetation. And that raft drifted all the way to Fiji.

And so to Scarpetta, that all suggests that at some point in the last 30 million years, some small group of iguanas just so happened to be on some raft of vegetation. And that raft drifted all the way to Fiji.

Both. Biologists have long surmised that animals on islands could have gotten there by floating. But people have also actually seen it happen. In 1995, combined hurricanes hit the Caribbean. Here's a clip from the Weather Channel documenting the damage.

Both. Biologists have long surmised that animals on islands could have gotten there by floating. But people have also actually seen it happen. In 1995, combined hurricanes hit the Caribbean. Here's a clip from the Weather Channel documenting the damage.

Both. Biologists have long surmised that animals on islands could have gotten there by floating. But people have also actually seen it happen. In 1995, combined hurricanes hit the Caribbean. Here's a clip from the Weather Channel documenting the damage.

Wrecked buildings, fallen trees, and apparently displaced animals. Because in the aftermath of these hurricanes, researchers tracked a group of iguanas that floated on a raft of downed trees over 180 miles from the Caribbean island of Guadalupe to Anguilla.

Wrecked buildings, fallen trees, and apparently displaced animals. Because in the aftermath of these hurricanes, researchers tracked a group of iguanas that floated on a raft of downed trees over 180 miles from the Caribbean island of Guadalupe to Anguilla.

Wrecked buildings, fallen trees, and apparently displaced animals. Because in the aftermath of these hurricanes, researchers tracked a group of iguanas that floated on a raft of downed trees over 180 miles from the Caribbean island of Guadalupe to Anguilla.

It is still really surprising.

It is still really surprising.

It is still really surprising.

I talked with iguana biologist Cristina de Jesus Villanueva about the paper, and here's what she had to say.

I talked with iguana biologist Cristina de Jesus Villanueva about the paper, and here's what she had to say.