New marine iguana discovered on Galapagos named “Godzilla”

The legend has finally become a reality. German researchers announced this month the discovery of an entirely new sub-species of iguana.  A thorny resident of San Cristóbal, the northeast island the Galapagos archipelago, the real-life creature bears such an uncanny resemblance to the cinematic legend Godzilla that researchers decided to give it the regal name Amblyrhynchus cristatus godzilla. Unlike its nearly invincible namesake, the real-life marine iguana is, like some many other of the world’s animal species, facing extinction.  Hopefully, the magnetic name will help to bring public attention to this species and support to preserve its threatened homeland. The research results were recently published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.