DNA metabarcoding reveals fine scale geographical differences of consumed algae in the Galápagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)

What is it about?

Marine Iguanas are the only lizards on the planet to have adapted to the marine habitat, enabling them to forage in the sea for marine macroalgae. They are endemic to the Galápagos Islands, a so called natural laboratory of evolution located in Ecuador. In this paper, the feeding ecology of this reptile species is studied in detail by a molecular approach. To gain insights into which algae they eat, faeces samples of different populations of two marine iguanas subspecies were collected in San Cristóbal Island. By means of DNA metabarcoding, it was possible to identify consumed algae in each sample. We were able to determine which different types of algae the lizards have consumed and interestingly we found that despite the proximity of their habitat, these two subspecies differ not only genetically but also in terms of their consumed algae indicating possible preferences in foraging.

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