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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