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Captive Galapagos tortoises can live up to 177 years. [4] For example, a captive individual, Harriet, lived for at least 175 years. Spanish explorers, who discovered the islands in the 16th century, named them after the Spanish galápago, meaning "tortoise". [5] Galápagos tortoises are native to seven of the Galápagos Islands.
Santa Cruz giant tortoise Bottlenose dolphins jumping off the Galápagos Islands. One of the best-known animals is the Galápagos tortoise, which once lived on ten of the islands. Now, some tortoise species are extinct or extinct in the wild and they live on six of the islands. The tortoises have an average lifespan of over 130 years.
An Aldabra giant tortoise, an example of a giant tortoise.. Giant tortoises are any of several species of various large land tortoises, which include a number of extinct species, [1] as well as two extant species with multiple subspecies formerly common on the islands of the western Indian Ocean and on the Galápagos Islands.
Several lineages of tortoises have independently evolved very large body sizes in excess of 100 kilograms (220 lb), including the Galapagos giant tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise. They are usually diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. Tortoises are ...
They hunted tortoises as a source of fresh meat, taking about 200,000 tortoises altogether. In 1958, goats were brought to Pinta Island and began eating much of the vegetation, to the detriment of the natural habitat. [17] [18] A prolonged effort to exterminate the goats was begun. As the goat populations declined, the vegetation recovered.
A Galápagos tortoise (Chelonoidis nigra) on Santa Cruz. C. nigra is the largest living species of tortoise, hunted to near extinction during the islands' whaling era. Gen. José de Villamil, founder of the Ecuadorian Navy and first governor of the islands The 1841 Admiralty chart drafted from FitzRoy's survey of the islands on HMS Beagle
Striped Galapagos racer (Pseudalsophis steindachneri) Yellow-bellied sea snake (Hydrophis platurus) Barrington leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus barringtonensis) Baur's leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus baurii) Darwin's leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus darwini) Española leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus gorii) Galapagos leaf-toed gecko ...
Map showing locations of Galapagos tortoises. Originally known from only one male specimen found (and killed) by members of the 1906 California Academy of Sciences expedition, [11] there were discoveries of putative tortoise droppings and cactus bite marks in 1964 and 2013, and an unconfirmed sighting in 2009. [1] [12]