West Florida Keys

The **West Florida Keys** (not to be confused with Key West) also known as **Challenger's Key** is a are a coral cay archipelago in Florida, U.S.A, sheltered within the Gulf of Mexico. The entire island chain is a protected Wildlife Preserve owned and managed by the Greene Foundation, internally known as **Prehistoric Paradise**

## History

The West Florida Keys were completely stripped of life from the 1940’s through 1970’s by Nuclear and Space research/experimentation. They were then abandoned and left to erode, but not before they were removed from all maps. For twenty years they barely recovered with very few plant species taking root on it and even fewer animal species returning

That was until 1993, when Thaddeus Greene and the Greene Foundation purchased the islands. In a few years, the island was completely terraformed from a lifeless wasteland into a lush, thriving ecosystem, ideal for many species, prehistoric or otherwise. Once the environment was suitable, Thaddeus Greene and his carefully selected team, including John Beery and Cipher Ambrose, could finally begin rescuing ancient creatures doomed to extinction.

## Geography

The Key is made up of over 500 islands with only a few having been developed with necessary facilities and the rest being reserved for nature.

## Facilities

* **Carboniferous Greenhouse** - Designed to hold in Carboniferous-era Atmosphere and keep the Giant Arthropods of the era safe and healthy. A variety of Carboniferous Plants, Fish and Amphibians are also held within.

## Wildlife

Animals who were already living on or near the island before the Greene Foundation’s acquisition.

Results taken from the July, 1993 biotic survey. Accuracy is not certain.

### Mammals

* **Common Bottlenose Dolphin**
* **West Indian Manatee**

### Birds

* American Black Vulture
* **Black Skimmer**
* **Brown Pelican**
* **Tricolored Heron**

### Reptiles

* **American Crocodile** - Was one of the few animal species to return after the military left. The population was further bolstered by introductions from the Florida Keys, Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula.
* **Green Sea Turtle**
* **Hawksbill Sea Turtle**

### Saltwater Fishes

* **Atlantic Tarpon**
* **Bonefish**
* **Common Snook**
* **Green Moray Eel**
* **Northern Red Snapper**
* **Permit**
* **Redfish**
* **Sergeant Major**
* **Spotted Seatrout**

### Sharks and Rays

* **Blacktip Reef Shark**
* **Sand Tiger Shark**
* **Southern Stingray**

## Rebounding Wildlife

Wildlife that has returned to the island after Greene Foundation acquisition without the aid of humans.

### Birds

* **Bald Eagle**
* **Great Blue Heron**
* **Limpkin**
* **Osprey**
* **Reddish Egret**
* **Roseate Spoonbill**
* **Wood Stork**

## Introduced Creatures

Animals who have been re-introduced to the island and whose populations are not actively monitored or maintained.

### Birds

* **American White Ibis**
* **Anhinga**
* **Belted Kingfisher**
* **Eastern Meadowlark**
* **Loggerhead Shrike**
* **Mangrove Cuckoo**
* **Northern Cardinal**
* **Northern Mockingbird**
* **White-crowned Pigeon**
* **Wild Turkey** - The most common bird in the keys, they are a popular food source for many carnivorous dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals
* **Yellow Warbler**

### Reptiles

* **American Alligator**
* **Five-lined Skink**
* **Green Anole** - the most common lizard on the islands. They are prey for nearly every carnivorous species.

* **Common Musk Turtle**
* **Painted Turtle**
* **Spotted Turtle**

### Amphibians

* **Greater Siren**
* **One-toed Amphiuma**
* **Three-toed Amphiuma**
* **Two-toed Amphiuma**
* **American Bullfrog**
* **Northern Leopard Frog**
* **Oriental Fire-bellied Toad**

### Freshwater Fishes

* **Bluegill**
* **Silver Arowana**
* **Smallmouth Bass**

### Insects

* **Nine-spotted Ladybird Beetle**
* **Scarce Seven-spotted Ladybird Beetle**
* **Seven-spot Ladybird Beetle**

### Flora

#### Anacardiaceae (Cashew and Sumac Family)

* Florida Poisontree
* Mango

#### Arecaceae (Palms)

* Coconut Palm
* Florida Thatch Palm
* Saw Palmetto

#### Bromeliaceae (Bromeliads)

* Pineapple
* Spanish Moss

#### Cupressaceae (Cypresses)

* Coast Redwood
* Dawn Redwood
* Giant Sequoia
* Swamp Cypress

#### Fabaceae (Legumes)

* Florida Fishpoison Tree
* Royal Poinciana
* Wild Tamarind

#### Moraceae (Mulberry and Fig Family)

* Common Fig
* Moreton Bay Fig
* Sycamore Fig

#### Blechnaceae (Ferns)

* European Chain Fern
* Giant Chain Fern

#### Cyatheales (Tree Ferns)

* Tasmanian Tree Fern
* Woolly Fern

#### Equisetaceae (Horsetail Family)

* Field Horsetail
* Mexican Giant Horsetail
* Northern Giant Horsetail
* Swamp Horsetail

#### Poaceae (Grasses)

* Elephant Grass
* Gulf Hairawn Muhly

## Maintained Wildlife

Animals Introduced to the island, be it through conservation programs, rescues or temporal relocation, whose populations are actively monitored and maintained. Usually kept in Enclosures, though a few species have free-roam over the islands

### Mammals

#### Indriidae

* **Coqueral’s Sifaka**
* **Verreaux’s Sifaka**

#### Felidae

* **Cheetah**
* **Florida Panther**
* **Lion**
* **South American Saber-toothed Cat**

### Birds

#### Cariamiformes

* **Phorusrhacos**
* **Red-legged Seriama**

#### Opisthocomiformes

* **Hoatzin** - A population of Hoatzin have been introduced to the island purely out of novelty. These birds have formed a breeding colony in the coastal mangroves

#### Musophagoformes

* **Fischer’s Turaco**
* **Great Blue Turaco**
* **Guinea Turaco**
* **Red-crested Turaco**
* **Violet Turaco**

### Reptiles

#### Crocodilia

* **Deinosuchus**
* **Nile Crocodile**

#### Serpentes

* **Eastern Indigo Snake** - A captive breeding program for this species is held on one of the developed isles, with many of the babies produced released into suitable habitats across the preserve. Yearly, staff track down as many snakes as possible to tag new ones and record data on already tagged individuals

### Flora

#### Cupressaceae (Cypresses)

* **Sequoites artus**
* **Taxodium olrikii**

#### Magnoliaceae (Magnolias)

* **Liriodendron laramiense**
* **Magnolia pulchra**

#### Moraceae (Mulberry and Fig Family)

* **Artocarpus lessigiana**
* **Ficus artocarpoides**
* **Ficus planicostata**
* **Ficus trinervis**