Clever ancient iguanas 'travelled the ocean on rafts'

Fijian crested iguanas have evolved since the earlier species hitched a ride on a RAFT!

You may have seen an iguana in a zoo or reptile house, but have you ever wondered how they got there?

Well, scientists studying these creatures have often asked how they managed to get from their native lands in the Americas, to the remote islands of Fiji in the Pacific Ocean, over 5,000 miles away.

Well, this mystery may have been solved and the result may surprise you.

New research shows that the green lizard-like reptiles actually took the SEA-NIC route, and travelled by raft!

The study, done by a team of ecologists from various research universities in the United States, was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The scientists took information they knew about the spread of iguanas around the world and worked out that the most likely way they could have made it to Fiji was by floating across the sea on a bed of uprooted trees and other vegetation.

They worked this out by looking at the genetic make-up of various different species of iguanas from different countries.

The data suggested the Fijian iguanas were most closely related to desert iguanas from North America, and that the two groups split off around 31 million years ago.

Whatcha lookin at?

One of the authors of the study, Simon Scarpetta from the University of San Francisco, said the treacherous journey from to Fiji may have taken a few months but the intelligent iguanas would have survived by resisting dehydration and could have snacked on the plants they were floating on.

"If you had to pick a vertebrate to survive a long trip on a raft across an ocean, iguanas would be the one" he said.

Iguana fact-file

• Adult iguanas can grow up to one-and-a-half metres long and can live for up to 15 years.

• Iguanas eat salad leaves, flowers, fruits and vegetables.

• They are not usually kept as domestic pets as they require a very specific environment to survive. They would need a special glass tank called a vivarium, around the size of a small bedroom.

• They also need warmth and moisture to be happy.