From prehistoric resident to runaway pet: First tegu fossil found in the US

AI Helps Identify Fossil of Prehistoric Tegu That Lived in Florida 16 Million Years Ago

The tegu, long thought to be an invasive species, turns out to have arrived in North America about 16 million years earlier than expected.

From prehistoric resident to runaway pet: First tegu fossil found in the U.S.

Originally from South America, the charismatic tegu made its way to the United States via the pet trade of the 1990s. But a recent discovery shows these reptiles are no strangers to the region -- tegus were here millions of years before their modern relatives arrived in pet carriers.

From prehistoric resident to runaway pet: First tegu fossil found in the US

Originally from South America, the charismatic tegu made its way to the United States via the pet trade of the 1990s. After wreaking havoc in Florida's ecosystems, the exotic lizard was classified as an invasive species. But a recent discovery from the Florida Museum of Natural History reveals the reptiles are no strangers to the region—tegus were here millions of years before their modern relatives arrived in pet carriers.

New Tegu Species Discovered In the United States - Reptiles Magazine

Researchers announced in a study in the Journal of Paleontology that tegu lizards, a large lizard that hails from South America and is popular with advanced reptile keepers, lived in what is now Georgia and Florida from between 17.5 to 14.5 million years ago. This was when the region was about 3 degrees Celsius warmer than today, the Arctic had no ice and tropical climates were further north than they are today. The discovery of the tegu being i…