Articles on Island syndrome

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The small Noronha skink (Trachylepis atlantica) is a lizard native to Africa that has evolved on Fernando de Noronha over millions of years: due to its isolation, the archipelago serves as a natural laboratory for evolution and is the subject of great scientific interest. Vinicius Gasparotto

Island life changed how Brazil’s Noronha skink reproduces, but the lizard’s strategy might be failing in a rapidly evolving world

Henrique B. Braz, Instituto Butantan; Selma Maria Almeida-Santos, Instituto Butantan, and Serena Najara Migliore, Instituto Butantan

The Noronha skink arrived on the island millions of years ago from Africa, likely on floating masses of vegetation carried by ocean currents.
An artist’s depiction of the Rēkohu shelduck. Sasha Votyakova/Te Papa

The discovery of an extinct shelduck highlights the rich ancient biodiversity of the remote Rēkohu Chatham Islands

Nic Rawlence, University of Otago; Alan Tennyson, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Levi Lanauze, Indigenous Knowledge, and Pascale Lubbe, University of Otago

Many birds on Rēkohu Chatham Islands show how ‘island syndrome’ influences evolution – they are distinct but remain closely related to species on the mainland.
To grow tall enough to reach the canopy, a species of screw pine unique to Lord Howe Island has evolved its own rainwater harvesting system. Matthew Biddick, CC BY-SA

The Lord Howe screw pine is a self‑watering island giant

Matthew Biddick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

How a species of screw pine unique to Lord Howe Island has evolved its own rainwater harvesting system that allows it to grow tall.

Related Topics

  1. Ancient DNA
  2. Biodiversity
  3. Evolution
  4. fossil bones
  5. Lizards
  6. Native trees
  7. New Zealand
  8. The Conversation Brasil

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