Herpetologist, Conservation Biologist, and Ph.D. student Kathleen Webster carried WINGS Flag #39 while leading a team of international and local field biologists on an expedition to the island of Grand Comoro in the Comoros Archipelago to survey for the invasive Peter’s Rock Agama (Agama picticauda) and endemic Comoros Iguana (Oplurus cuvieri comorensis). Kathleen is completing her Ph.D in the Department of Biology at the University of New Mexico, in Dr. Lisa Barrow’s Amphibian & Reptile Biodiversity Lab, working with the Division of Amphibians & Reptiles at the Museum of Southwestern Biology. 

Currently, she is a visiting doctoral researcher at the University of Zurich in Dr. Oliver Hawlitschek‘s Phylogenetic Systematics of Animals Lab in the Department of Evolutionary Biology & Environmental Studies. Kathleen’s work and passion is centered around collections-based biodiversity research on reptiles and amphibians that can directly impact conservation efforts.

During Kathleen’s expedition, she surveyed and collected occurrence data and tissue samples to be used to assess the current population status of both lizards on Grand Comoro and predict the impact that the spread of the invasive lizard will have as a potential competitor on the vulnerable endemic lizard. These are essential first steps in safeguarding the survival of the Comoros Iguana, which is not only a local cultural icon but also potentially the most threatened vertebrate taxon in the Comoros Archipelago.

Despite the impending threat of the invader, very little is known about the current population status of both lizards on Grand Comoro, and the nature of their potential interaction has yet to be investigated.