Article ID: CBB001321130

The Early Scientific History of Galapagos Iguanas (2014)

unapi

The oldest known specimen of Galapagos marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), now in the University Museum, Oxford, was originally thought to have come from Mexico. A plausible history of its origin with sealers in the Galapagos Islands about 1824 and transportation to and across Mexico is advanced. The naturalists David Douglas and John Scouler, on James (Santiago) Island in January 1825, encountered and attempted unsuccessfully to preserve specimens of the land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus) but only a Scouler specimen of marine iguana made it back to England, and it has since disappeared. Published and previously unpublished journal entries from the voyage of HMS Blonde, which had shore parties at Albemarle (Isabela) and Narborough (Fernandina) islands in March 1825, establish that the specimens on which the original description of Amblyrhynchus (later Conolophus) subcristatus J. E. Gray, 1831, was based originated in the voyage of the Blonde. Banks Bay, Albemarle Island, is here designated as the type locality for Conolophus subcristatus. Specimens of the marine iguana were also brought back by the Blonde. The published accounts of Scouler and the voyage of the Blonde established the Galapagos as the true home of the marine iguana well before the return of Charles Darwin and HMS Beagle in 1836.

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Authors & Contributors
James, Matthew J.
Grant, Peter R.
Poppy Nicol
Bezan, Sarah
Lauren Gardiner
Mark Nesbitt
Concepts
Scientific expeditions
Biological specimens
Specimen exchange
Collectors and collecting
Botany
Natural history
Time Periods
19th century
20th century, early
18th century
17th century
20th century
16th century
Places
Galapagos Islands
United Kingdom
Tasmania (Australia)
London (England)
Scotland
North America
Institutions
California Academy of Sciences
East India Company (English)
Zoological Society of London
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology
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