Thursday, October 12, 2006

March of the Penguins, Etc.

I was intrigued by this story in the Times about jaguars repopulating the American Southwest. I can't help but wonder if it's part of a larger pattern; i.e., the one reported on here, here and here, about how myriad plant and animal and species are apparently migrating poleward in response to climate change.

In a previous post (see: Wildlife Sightings), I queried readers as to whether they had read stories or knew first-hand of any cases where critters had been spotted outside their traditional range. We drummed up quite a few examples, including accounts of manatees off Cape Cod, sunfish off the Faroe Islands, pengins in Brazil, and armadilloes in Illinois.

I'd like to open it up again. Anyone have more examples they can cite? And in the interest of counteracting any confirmation bias, I should also ask whether anyone has contradictory examples; any reports of movement toward the Equator?
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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

How about grass in the Arctic!!!!

4:32 PM  
Blogger Gareth said...

Does the August sighting of a Blue-Footed Booby near Seattle count?

I blogged it at Another Chance To See a couple of months ago.

And thanks for the permanent link Pat. Much appreciated.

Gareth

5:24 PM  
Anonymous Vermont Chapter Chair said...

Turkey vultures, a southern species, first appeared in Vermont a few years ago. They are now quite common.

8:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remeber reading accounts of butterfly species in the UK shifting their range north by many kms. ...

12:27 PM  

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