Caribbean Islands

About the Caribbean Islands

The Caribbean islands are a classic demonstration of how island life works. Colonisation is rare and difficult, so the species that arrive diversify into roles that would be occupied by many different lineages on a mainland — the anole lizards are the textbook case, having repeatedly and independently evolved the same set of body forms on separate islands. Populations are small and confined, which makes them both distinctive and fragile. The region has already lost most of its native land mammals and a great many of its birds and reptiles, largely to introduced rats, mongooses and cats. Hurricanes are a recurring structural force rather than an anomaly, and species here are adapted to them, but small isolated populations have little margin when one hits directly.