Galapagos Islands Giant Tortoise
When you think of the Galapagos Islands, you probably think of a faraway, deserted place of warm weather, beaches, and lots of amazing wildlife. But did you know that these rugged volcanic islands are home to the world’s largest living tortoise? In fact, the saddle-back shape of some of these tortoises’ shells reminded early Spaniards of a riding saddle called galápago, a term they then used to refer to the giant tortoises. Thus, by calling the islands the Galapagos, we are in a way calling them "The Islands of the Giant Tortoises!"
Charles Darwin and the Galapagos
The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles west of the Latin American country of Ecuador. There are 19 islands and 42 rocks in the chain, or archipelago. The island chain is part of Ecuador, and it stretches for some 174 miles across the Equator (which in Spanish is ecuador). Today, about 95 percent of the land is one big national park, and about 18,000 people live in the islands.The Galapagos were discovered by chance by the Bishop of Panama in 1535. But no one went to live there for a few hundred years. Those that did visit, mostly whalers, seal hunters and pirates, used the islands as a place to hunt, rest and stock up on giant tortoises. The creatures could last for weeks with no food or water, so to the sailors they were a valuable source of meat for long ocean voyages.
It wasn’t until the 1800s that humans began to settle in the Galapagos Islands, after they became part of Ecuador in 1832. In 1835, a 22-year-old English scientist named Charles Darwin landed on what is now San Cristobal Island. He spent weeks on the islands, surveying the land and studying the diverse wild-life. At first, he wrote that much of the terrain looked lifeless. But he soon became fascinated with the amazing variety of wildlife he found - including giant tortoise, which he realized were different from island to island. Years later, the observations he recorded at the time would lead him to develop one of the most important theories in modern science, the theory of evolution by natural selection. In the 1900s the islands became a major tourist attraction, and in 1959 the government of Ecuador established the Galapagos National Park.
World's Longest-Living Creatures
There are 15 recognized races of the Galapagos tortoise. Four are extinct - wiped out by other animals who ate their food, and hunted by humans for their meet. There are two subgroups depending on the size and the shape of their shells - domed or saddle-backed. Smaller saddle-backed tortoises have long necks and limbs and a shell that is arched in the front. This helps them stretch their heads high, making it easier for them to reach higher vegetation. Their hard and bony shell can easily be camouflaged and serves as a protection from predators. They usually roam on lower, drier islands. Larger, dome-shaped tortoises prefer moist higher islands with a lot of vegetation. They feed on grasses and other low-growing shrubs and fruits. Galapagos tortoises can weigh more than 500 pounds and can live more than 200 years. But no one knows how much more, because as yet no single tortoise can be traced back that far! The Galapagos tortoises are believed to have one of the longest life spans of all vertebrates (animals with backbones). In fact, no one yet really know just how long they can live.
Threats
The Galapagos tortoises that are not already extinct are an endangered species. Tortoise populations have been depleted for several reasons. During the whaling era, sailors valued the tortoises because they could live for long periods of time without food or water and thus be preserved and eaten at a later time. Pigs, dogs and rats go after the tortoises' nests and eat their young. Donkeys ruin their nesting areas, and many tortoises have been killed for oil. On some islands, goats have run wild and eaten everything that the tortoises need to survive. When Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands, the number of giant tortoises was nearly 250,000; today, only about 15,000 giant tortoises live on the islands.