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Little Scrub Island
Island in Anguilla From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Little Scrub Island is an island in Anguilla, a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. The island is 1.3 km (0.81 mi) to the northeast of the main island of Anguilla, and 500 m (550 yd) west of Scrub Island. Despite its rocky, inhospitable environment, it is a nesting ground for various birds and home to an endemic species of lizard, the Little Scrub Island ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corax).
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Geography
Little Scrub Island is a rocky island surrounded by choppy waters that contribute to making the shoreline inhospitable.[2] The island has no beaches nor bodies of freshwater.[1] It covers an area of 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres) and rises to a maximum of elevation of 16 metres (52 ft) above sea level.[1] It is located 500 m (550 yd) west of the bigger Scrub Island and 1.3 km (0.81 mi) northeast of the main island of Anguilla.[3]
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Flora and fauna
The island was completely stripped of flora by Hurricane Luis in 1995 and Hurricane Lenny in 1999. Since then, the flora has recovered; morning glory (Ipomea violaceae) and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia dillenii) can be found in abundance on the island.[4] These two plants are the main food source of Pholidoscelis corax, also known as the Little Scrub Island ground lizard, which is endemic to the island.[5][6]
The island provides a nesting site for various birds, including the brown noddy, bridled tern, sooty tern, roseate tern, and the brown booby. Several dove (Zenaida aurita) nests were also identified during a 2010 survey, along with a single Sargasso shearwater nest. Brown pelicans also used the island at that time, but they were not observed to be nesting.[7]
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References
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