National Geographic has an article on the surprising evolution of lizards on an island off the coast of Croatia.

Lizards Rapidly Evolve After Introduction to Island

“In just a few decades the 5-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) lizards have developed a completely new gut structure, larger heads, and a harder bite, researchers say.

In 1971, scientists transplanted five adult pairs of the reptiles from their original island home in Pod Kopiste to the tiny neighboring island of Pod Mrcaru, both in the south Adriatic Sea.

Genetic testing on the Pod Mrcaru lizards confirmed that the modern population of more than 5,000 Italian wall lizards are all descendants of the original ten lizards left behind in the 1970s.”

This is pretty cool stuff, unless of course you don’t believe in evolution. What is it then? Magic? Or outright fakery and lies? The article does say that the researchers are still investigating how much of the observed changes are truly genetic, but it seems hard to imaging the described digestive changes being anything but.