Researchers who have studied genetic evidence of iguanas suggest the ancient reptiles traveled nearly 5,000 miles from North America to Fiji on floating vegetation.

Since most iguana species live in the Americas, biologists have long debated how they could have arrived on the remote Pacific island in the first place

There are 45 different species of Iguanidae in the Caribbean and the tropical, subtropical and desert areas of North, Central, and South America, including the marine iguanas of the Galapágos and the chuckwallas in the American Southwest.