Galapagos Tortoise

The Galapagos tortoise, or Giant Tortoise, is found only in the Galapagos Islands and on one tiny island in the Seychelles Islands. Geochelone elephantopus, as it's known in the scientific world, is one of the most widely recognized animals of the Galapagos Islands. Females can get up to 110 pounds but males can weigh in as much as 500 pounds! The Galapagos tortoise used to be all over the islands, up to a quarter of a million of them according to some scientists. Now there are just around 15,000 after years and years of slaughter by shiphands who kept them in the bottom of ships as food for long voyages. These days nobody eats the Galapagos tortoise but there is still a threat in the form of introduced species. Humans have brought other species to the Galapagos Islands, These intruder species destroy habitat and threaten the livelihood of this species we have come to know as one of the most widely recognized symbols of the Galapagos Islands. Isabela Island is where you'll find the Galapagos tortoise in the greatest numbers.

Other than your usual cheap holidays in Lanzarote why not explore the Galapagos Islands?

There are several species of giant Galapagos tortoise across the islands. Type is based on the shape of the shell. These types are:

• Giant Tortoise
• Saddleback Tortoise
• Gecko Tortoise
• Dome-Shaped Tortoise
• Intermediate Tortoise

The Galapagos tortoise have the ability to store water and fat in their bodies, which makes them adaptable to dry conditions where there's no raid for weeks on end. They made excellent to-go food for pirates and other shipsmen who would capture hundreds of the Galapagos tortoise and store them alive in the ship's hold for future meals.

The Galapagos Tortoise can live longer than humans. There are stories of one who lived to be 170 years old! Their diet consists of grass and other vegetation, and they get LOTS of sleep! Their enemies are rats and wild pigs. They eat the eggs, while feral dogs eat the baby turtles in addition to digging up the nests of the Galapagos tortoise. Galapagos National Park and the Darwin Research Station are putting great effort into protecting the Giant Tortoise with protection programs, breeding, and conservation programs.

Other Reptiles in the Galapagos Islands

Reptiles rule the Galapagos Islands. Most four-legged creatures here are reptiles, from the tiny gecko to the Giant Tortoise. The first people to arrive on the Galapagos Islands actually thought the islands were a forgotten refuge for prehistoric reptiles, found nowhere else on earth, a living page of history. However, we know today that the reptiles found on the Galapagos Islands are just close relatives of the species found in South America, just variations. Two thirds of the reptiles on the Galapagos Islands are found nowhere else on earth. They are endemic, having evolved from their cousins on the mainland. Here are the five types of reptiles found on the Galapagos Islands:

• Iguanas
• Giant Tortoises
• Lava Lizards
• Geckos
• Snakes

Iguanas

There are land iguanas and there are marine iguanas. The Marine Iguanas are another well-known symbol of the Galapagos Islands. They are huge and they like to sunbathe on the black rocks that dot the shore of the islands. Marine iguanas are endemic to the Galapagos Islands, and descended from land iguanas from the South American continent. Scientists think they rafted to the islands around nine million years ago and then adapted to a vegetarian and seafood diet. It's the only Marine Iguana in the world and get up to three feet long. Half of this is their distinctively long tail. They have spiny fan plates that stick up on their backs, spanning the whole body. They are highly adaptable to both cold and heat, for which the scientific term is poikilothermic. Their body temperature goes way down at night and then warms up during the day to aid digestion. Their diet consists of sea lion feces and algae, and sometimes even each others' feces. Yum! They will dive under water, up to 60 feet, to find food. They can hold their breath for a very long time, an hour! To scare their enemies, they spray salt water through their nostrils. There are about a quarter of a million of them across the Galapagos Islands. They live to be about 30 years and have eggs only every two years.

Lava Lizards

Lava Lizards come in seven different varieties endemic to the Galapagos Islands. There is one species for each major island! The largest gets up to 25 cm long, and the smallest about half that. Females have a reddish throat and males are gray and boring looking.

They eat seeds, flowers, insects and leaves. As their name suggests, they like to lay out on the lava rocks. When they get hot, they stand up on all fours to catch some air. They sleep in beds made of leaves and dirt nestled in cracks in the lava.

Lava lizards usually only fight for territory, and can grow new parts, like the gecko, when one rips off during a fight. Males will send up their spiny crests to each other when they fight. They can circle and bite too, but rarely kill each other. The real danger is predators like birds and snakes.

Snakes

Like the iguanas, snakes come in the land variety and the marine variety. First, we have the Galapagos Land Snake, a type of small constrictor. They are only a yardstick long, but can catch prey much larger than themselves. They prey on lizards, birds, insects, and baby marine iguanas.

The Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake, (Pelamis platurus) has extremely dangerous venom, worse than the cobra. Good for us, this snake is usually rare. The warm waters of El Nino will bring more of these out, however.

Geckos

Geckos are really just small lizards that live on land. They hail from the Geckonidae family and there are several different types of Geckos here on the Galapagos Islands. Six species are endemic. The endemic genus is Phyllodactylus, found on San Cristobal, Santa Cruz, Baltra, Floreana, and Isabela.

Geckos are very good at climbing, even on smooth surfaces. Their toes have sticky pads, which make it possible to climb just about anything. They usually prowl around at night but not always. Look in crevices for them during the day. Their eyelids are permanent, always down, so they have to lick them to keep them moist.

Geckos molt and then eat the old skin. very nice! They can detach themselves from their tails so if you grab one this way you'll see this happen. This is called autonomy.

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