# Two hurricanes reshaped limb and toe traits in Turks and Caicos lizards 2026-08-06T06:16:02+00:00 | Health & Science | Indian Opinion Desk Princeton and Harvard researchers had just finished surveying the Turks and Caicos anole on Pine Cay and Water Cay days before Hurricane Irma struck the islands on 8 September 2017 with winds of 265 km/hr, followed two weeks later by Hurricane Maria at 200 km/hr, The Hindu reported. Both storms flattened vegetation and killed large numbers of lizards. Surveyed again six weeks on, survivors carried longer forelimbs, shorter hind legs, a shortened fourth hind toe and larger toepads than before the storms. A new Current Biology study found five genes tied to muscle and skeletal development had independently become more common on both islands, and pointed to one, hs6st1, as seemingly responsible for the shorter fourth toe. CRISPR editing of the same gene in a related species, the brown anole, produced shorter fourth toes and thinner toe cartilage, while wind-tunnel tests on that species showed front limbs supplied most of the grip, with shorter first toe bones helping lizards cling longest. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The result is a documented, measurable shift in one population over a known window, not proof that hurricanes reshape lizards generally, the study itself covers two islands and two named storms. The genetic evidence, cross-checked through CRISPR editing in a related species and wind-tunnel testing of grip strength, gives the limb changes a mechanism rather than just a correlation. The changes were still detectable in the population's descendants a year after the storms, so the measure that matters now is whether a repeat survey of Pine Cay and Water Cay still finds the shortened fourth hind toe and the longer forelimbs. ## Coverage - www.thehindu.com Tags: Current Biology Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/hold-tight-how-two-hurricanes-forced-a-lizard-to-change-its-grip/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/hold-tight-how-two-hurricanes-forced-a-lizard-to-change-its-grip/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.