Swamp Ape Science
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swampapescience.bsky.social
Swamp Ape Science
@swampapescience.bsky.social
Just a Florida Man communicating a love for nature and all the absolutely wacky things it does.

I'm also a paleo-enthusiast who enjoys doing some wildlife photography.
I came to the comments to say this but knew in my heart of hearts it had already been said
November 24, 2024 at 8:34 PM
Sadly in the South they were hit extra hard when the invasive Burmese Python who likes similar habitats to the pygmy rattlesnake began to spread a parasitic pentasome that seems to affect pygmy rattlesnakes in particular really badly coupled with the introduction of the Cuban Tree Frog
November 20, 2024 at 2:54 AM
The likeliest of explanations is that pygmys just don't do well in industrialized areas whether or not they have water sources, so as Florida developed, their populations got isolated into pockets of wetlands and costal flood plains.
November 20, 2024 at 2:51 AM
Compare it to a few more common snake species like the Southern Black Racer and Eastern Rat Snake where you can see where their populations fluidly connect to eachother
November 20, 2024 at 2:49 AM
You can see this scattering of populations a bit more clearly on observation maps like iNat.
Most of these areas seem to correlate with water seeming that they like to hunt in and around water but they do seem to be missing from a few vast wetland/swampland areas
November 20, 2024 at 2:46 AM
Removing green iguanas from the environment and establishing protected areas for the unique island forms that will hopefully all one day get their own species status.
Also hopefully delineating these species will help protect them against the persecutions faced by Iguana iguana.
October 17, 2023 at 7:28 PM
The best temporary solution is really looking to establish captive breeding groups of iguanas unique to each ISLAND not each species(many of the subspecies may one day gain species status). We don't want another Cyclura lewsi issue happening. With stable captive populations, we can work on -
October 17, 2023 at 7:25 PM
Unfortunately, that won't be an easy fought battle babies of all the Iguana genus species look nearly identical to the untrained eye and without genetic testing, which can be difficult to get the funding or equipment for, its hard to tell which species you have or worse if they're hybrids
October 17, 2023 at 7:20 PM
While Green Iguanas have begun to naturalize in Florida, having little impact outside of human disturbed areas, these small fragile island ecosystems just are prepared for a lizard capable of such competitive exclusion of the native island species that many island plants rely on.
October 17, 2023 at 7:15 PM
Distinguishing these species will also hopefully help us disassociate them from one of their biggest threats.
Hybridization with invasive green iguanas.
While closely related, Green Iguanas didn't evolve on these islands and, therefore, don't share the balanced niche the native iguanas have.
October 17, 2023 at 7:11 PM
Giving them unique delineation not only helps offer them unique protection status and raise awareness of how critical their population statistics are but also raises awareness about them. I'm certain the vast majority wouldn't even know that there are unique forms of Iguana throughout the Caribbean
October 17, 2023 at 7:08 PM
While mainland Green Iguanas and their unique island relatives may share a common ancestry, these animals have become ecologically isolated for so long, and the island forms have developed unique ecologies to fill specific niches on their islands that would be under threat from their removal.
October 17, 2023 at 7:05 PM
This is one of the few rare times you'll find me firmly leaning on the side of splitting. I definitely believe all of the Caribbean Iguana spp need to be split but purely for their own safety. It can often impede conservation efforts when little research is being done on what makes them unique.
October 17, 2023 at 7:02 PM