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Marine iguanas shrink to survive El Niño

Nature volume 403, pages 37–38 (2000)Cite this article

Changes in bone metabolism enable these adult lizards to reversibly alter their length.

Change in body length is considered to be unidirectional in vertebrates1, but we have repeatedly observed shrinkage in the snout-to-vent length of individual adult iguanid lizards. In two studies, one lasting 18 years and one 8 years, of two island populations of Galápagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), we found that individuals became shorter by as much as 20% (6.8 cm) within two years. This shrinking coincided with low availability of food, resulting from El Niño events. Body length increased again during sub-sequent La Niña conditions, when algal food was abundant2. We found that lizards that shrank more survived longer than larger iguanas during harsh periods because their foraging efficiency increased and their energy expenditure decreased3,4.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Change in body length as an adaptation to harsh conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ethology and Evolution, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, 61801, Illinois, USA

    Martin Wikelski

  2. Max-Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany

    Martin Wikelski

  3. University of Bielefield, VHF 33501, Germany

    Martin Wikelski

  4. Department of Biology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, 97072, Germany

    Corinna Thom

Authors
  1. Martin Wikelski
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  2. Corinna Thom
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Wikelski, M., Thom, C. Marine iguanas shrink to survive El Niño. Nature 403, 37–38 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/47396

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