Iguanas sailed 5,000 miles on rafts 34 million years ago

Around 34 million years ago, iguanas undertook the longest known transoceanic trip of any terrestrial species, sailing one-fifth of the way around the world from North America to set up home in Fiji.

- WORDS K. R. CALLAWAY

Researchers believe the iguanas made the 5,000-mile journey on rafts made of vegetation, arriving in Fiji shortly after the islands formed. "You could imagine some kind of cyclone knocking over trees where there were a bunch of iguanas and maybe their eggs, and then they caught the ocean currents and rafted over," said Simon Scarpetta, an assistant professor of environmental science at the University of San Francisco.