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It is said in legends there were so many tortoises on the islands when the Spanish explorers found them that they named the islands after them—Galápagos is an old Spanish word for tortoise
Looks:
There are many species of Galapágos tortoise, and each differ in appearance. Most tortoises with domed shells live on wetter islands with vegetation near the ground, while others with flatter carapaces make their homes on dry islands. The ‘saddleback’ tortoises have shells that are raised at the rim above the neck so that the tortoises can reach up and eat from taller vegetation than the domed-shell tortoises. Saddlebacks are also smaller than the domed-shell species, and so are the islands they live on. There are, however, some intermediate tortoises whose shells are both domed and saddleback.
List of subspecies:
Abingdon Island tortoise
Volcán Wolf tortoise
Chatham Island tortoise
James Island tortoise
Duncan island tortoise
Sierra Negra tortoise
Hood island tortoise
Volcán Darwin tortoise
Floreana Island/Charles Island tortoise
Indefatigable Island tortoise
Volcán Alcedo tortoise
Iguana Cove tortoise
Feeding:
These tortoises are herbivores; their diet consists of cacti, grasses, leaves, lichens and berries. They can survive up to a year without eating or drinking, by breaking down their body fat to produce nutrients.
Breeding:
There is no specific breeding season for the Galapágos tortoise—mating will occur at any time of year. To compete for a female tortoise, two males stand as tall as they can, stretch up their necks and open their mouths wide. The tallest tortoise wins and gets the female, leaving the shorter one to back away.
Once they have mated, the females journey in July to November to dry sandy coast. They dig their nests, which may take many days to complete, using their hind legs to scoop out a hole in which the tortoise lays about sixteen eggs. When the hole is finished, the female seals the nest with a muddy plug.
The eggs are spherical and hard-shelled, and the amount of them varies with each species of Galapagos tortoise. Like alligators, the gender of the baby tortoises depends on the temperature of the nest; lower temperatures tend to produce more males.
After four to eight months, the hatchlings dig their way out of the nest. This process may take weeks, and if the soil is too hard or the nest is flooded, the newborn tortoises can die.
Life expectancy:
These tortoises reach maturity at about 20-40 years. They are known to live to about 100 years in the wild, making it one of the longest lived species in the world—an Australian tortoise, Harriet, died in 2006 in the Australian Zoo at approximately 170 years of age.
Habitat:
The Galápagos Islands, located on either side of the Equator, Pacific Ocean.
Predators:
Galapágos tortoises have few predators, because of their size and isolation, but introduced creatures like cats, pigs, rats, and other species feast on the tortoises’ eggs and food. Juvenile tortoises are also attacked by birds of prey such as the Galapágos hawk. Due to this, the Galapágos tortoise has now been added to the list of endangered animals.
Galapágos tortoises are the largest tortoises in the world
