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It's raining iguanas after Florida cold snap
Miami (AFP) Jan 4, 2008 An unexpected cold snap this week sent thermometers plummeting in Florida and heat-hungry iguanas dropping from tree branches like autumn leaves, scientists and witnesses said. Passersby in Bill Baggs and Crandon parks in Key Biscayne, south of Miami, were seen picking up the seemingly lifeless lizards from the ground beneath trees and setting them in the sun, where after a brief warm-up, most revived and scampered off into the bushes. The cold-blooded lizard-with-a-mohawk's comfort level begins at 23 degrees Celsius (73 Fahrenheit) and it positively thrives at 35 C (95 F). But on Wednesday and Thursday, the mercury in south Florida dropped to 4-5 C (39-41 F). "When the temperature falls below about 60 F (15 C) they become less able to move around. At temperatures below about 40 F (5 C) they become completely immobile and begin to suffer serious stress," said University of Florida wildlife expert Perran Ross. Since all three iguana species shelter in tree branches and crevices, he added, when the temperature falls low enough, they are unable to hold on and drop to the ground. "Some of these chilled and cold-stressed iguanas will suffer irreversible damage and die. Others may be able to rewarm themselves by sitting in the sun and may recover," the expert added. Iguanas are not native to Florida but were brought in by travelers from Mexico, Central and South America. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
Two Explosive Evolutionary Events Shaped Early History Of Multicellular Life
Blacksburg VA (SPX) Jan 04, 2008Scientists have known for some time that most major groups of complex animals appeared in the fossils record during the Cambrian Explosion, a seemingly rapid evolutionary event that occurred 542 million years ago. Now Virginia Tech paleontologists, using rigorous analytical methods, have identified another explosive evolutionary event that occurred about 33 million years earlier among macroscopic life forms unrelated to the Cambrian animals. They dubbed this earlier event the "Avalon Explosion." |
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