Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
Galapagos Islands
Off the coast Of Equador
San Salvador Island a/k/a Santiago Island
James Bay
The Galapagos marine iguana is an ugly reptile with amazing abilities. Charles Darwin on visiting the islands classified the animals as revolting. I found them to be very fascinating.
The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is an iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. They can dive down up to 30 feet into the water to find food. They have a natural ability to swim and to move around with speed.
Since much of the Galapagos Marine Iguana’s time is spent in the water there is still a great deal that we don’t know about them. It is known that they must come to land to help with regulating their temperature. The water is too cold for them to remain in it all the time.
When the body temperature drops too much, they have a hard time moving and that makes them vulnerable to predators such as frigate birds and the Galapagos hawk. They will become more aggressive too when they are cooler. They tend to spend time on rocks by the water with their head upwards to soak up as much sunlight as they can at once. - Wikipedia
Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus)
Galapagos Islands
Off the coast Of Equador
San Salvador Island a/k/a Santiago Island
James Bay
The Galapagos marine iguana is an ugly reptile with amazing abilities. Charles Darwin on visiting the islands classified the animals as revolting. I found them to be very fascinating.
The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) is an iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. They can dive down up to 30 feet into the water to find food. They have a natural ability to swim and to move around with speed.
Since much of the Galapagos Marine Iguana’s time is spent in the water there is still a great deal that we don’t know about them. It is known that they must come to land to help with regulating their temperature. The water is too cold for them to remain in it all the time.
When the body temperature drops too much, they have a hard time moving and that makes them vulnerable to predators such as frigate birds and the Galapagos hawk. They will become more aggressive too when they are cooler. They tend to spend time on rocks by the water with their head upwards to soak up as much sunlight as they can at once. - Wikipedia