Santa Barbara Endemics

Quick quiz - where would you go locally if you wanted to find endemic species? What sort of endemic species would you expect to find?

Yup, our very own Channel Islands host a number of endemic species - mainly plants but also one bird and the very cool Island Night Lizard: The only reptile found on Santa Barbara Island is the endemic and threatened island night lizard. These lizards can live up to 20 years or more, but once established in a territory generally remain within a 3-meter radius their entire life.

Disturbing fact of the day - San Nicholas Island, one of the Santa Barbara Channel Islands that is still used by the Navy as a weapons testing facility, was one of eight candidate sites for the first atomic bomb detonation.