from an email;

" A new pacific iguana species has been described from the
central islands of Fiji, which makes three living Pacific iguana
species including the critically endangered Fijian crested iguana
(Brachylophus vitensis), and the Lau banded iguana (Brachylophus
fasciatus: from Tonga and the Lau islands of eastern Fiji).

Genetic and morphological analyses from 61 individuals from 13
Fijian islands suggest there are actually three living kinds of
Brachylophus iguanas, not two as indicated in current taxonomy. The
newly described iguana species is called Brachylophus bulabula, the
Fijian Banded Iguana.

Based on morphological differences, the Tongan iguanas were
described as a new taxon, B. brevicephalus, by Avery and Tanner in
1970 but were later synonymized with the Fijian banded iguana B.
fasciatus by Gibbons in 1981. As the original B. fasciatus was
described from a specimen collected in Tonga, this name remains
unchanged for Tongan and Lau islands (Fiji) iguanas, and the species
from the central Fijian islands (eg. Kadavu, Ovalau) is given the new
name of Brachylophus bulabula.

This paper is one of 15 published in a themed issue on
‘Evolution on Pacific Islands: Darwin’s Legacy’. Other articles in
Volume 363, Number 1508 / October 27, 2008 of Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are now
available on the journals.royalsociety.org website at http://
journals.royalsociety.org/content/k51441384866"

jf

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