Download Galapagos Animals

The Galapagos Penguin is the third smallest species, and lives farther north than any other penguin.
While ninety percent of the Galapagos Penguins live among the western islands of the Galapagos. The northern
tip of one of the islands crosses the equator, meaning that these creatures occasionally visit the northern
hemisphere, the only penguin to do so.
The Famous Finches (Fringillidae): What would the Galapagos be without
Darwin's finches? Keep your eyes open because they are found everywhere and
might even eat right out of your hand! There are 15 endemic species
differentiated by the size and form of their beaks.
The adaptive evolution and speciation of Galápagos Finches occurred following colonization of the islands from the
Central or South American mainland. DNA data indicate the origin of Darwin’s finches from a single ancestral species,
most likely from the Grassquit genus Tiaris. The most important differences between species are in the size and shape of
their beaks, and the beaks are highly adapted to different food sources, although there are important differences in
behavior and song melodies.
Marine Iguanas (Iguanidae): The moment you arrive, you'll be tripping over these creatures. This is the only
lizard in the world that lives in the ocean, and the three species seen on the islands are endemic. It's brilliant to
see them when they're mating, as their black skin turns bright red when the iguanas want to attract a mate.
The Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is an iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands that has the ability,
unique among modern lizards, to live and forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. The Iguana can dive over 30 ft (10
m) into the water. It mainly lives on the rocky Galapagos shore, but can also be spotted in marshes and mangrove
beaches.
Adult males are up to 1.7 meters
(5.6 ft) long, females 0.6–1 meter
(2.0–3.3 ft), males weigh up to
1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb).
Its diet consists of seaweed and algae. To
make it easier for it to get these, the marine
iguana has a flat snout so that it can get closer
to rocks that algae is growing on, as well as
sharp teeth so that it can scrape off more of
the algae. It has a special gland in its snout
that filters its blood for excess salt that it may
ingest while eating. It sneezes out the excess
salt, which often leaves a salty crust around its
nostrils, one of the aspects that made it
unattractive to Charles Darwin.
The Galápagos tortoise (Geochelone nigra) is the largest living species of tortoise, reaching
weights of over 400 kilograms (882 lb) and lengths of 1.8 meters (6 ft). It is among the longest
lived of all vertebrates. Life expectancy in the wild is over 100 years, and the oldest known
individual is estimated to have reached at least 170 years of age. The tortoise is endemic to
seven volcanic islands of the Galápagos archipelago, lying west of Ecuador.
The Blue-footed Booby (Sula nebouxii) is a bird in the Sulidae family which comprises ten species of longwinged seabirds. The natural breeding habitat of the Blue-footed Booby is tropical and subtropical islands off
the Pacific Ocean, most famously, the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
The name booby comes from the Spanish term bobo, which means "stupid" or "fool"/"clown". This is because
the Blue-footed Booby is clumsy on the land, and (like other seabirds), they can be very tame and therefore
easily captured, killed, and eaten by humans.
The courtship of the Blue-footed Booby consists of the male flaunting his blue feet and dancing to impress the female.
During the dance, the male will spread his wings and stamp his feet on the ground.