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Snake escape: imported reptiles gobble an island’s lizards

King snakes brought to Gran Canaria have multiplied, wreaking havoc on all of its native reptiles.
Gran Canaria giant lizard sun basking on a boulder.

The Gran Canaria giant lizard is large and feisty — but it is no match for the California kingsnakes now rampaging through the lizard’s habitat. Credit: Nick Upton/Nature Picture Library

Two of the three native reptiles on to Gran Canaria have nearly vanished from some parts of the Spanish island — eaten by an invasive snake species originally imported as a pet1.

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Nature 600, 362 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03647-4

References

  1. Piquet, J. C. & López-Darias, M. Proc. R. Soc. B https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1939 (2021).

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