{"id":2257,"date":"2020-12-06T19:48:01","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T19:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2021-04-11T15:33:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-11T14:33:48","slug":"the-christmas-marine-iguanas-of-espanola-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toonsarah-travels.blog\/staging\/the-christmas-marine-iguanas-of-espanola-island\/","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Christmas\u2019 marine iguanas of Espa\u00f1ola Island"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many of us the colours red and green trigger memories of Christmas. Glossy holly leaves and berries, a beautifully decorated tree, Santa in his red suit, a pile of wrapped presents.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a questionably ugly reptile? Probably not \u2013 and yet \u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the creatures I found most intriguing in the Gal\u00e1pagos Islands was the marine iguana, although not everyone has been as enamoured of them as I was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The black lava rocks on the beach are frequented by large most disgusting, clumsy lizards. They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl & seek their prey from the sea. Somebody calls them ‘imps of darkness’. They assuredly well-become the land they inhabit.<\/p>Charles Darwin, 1835<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These fascinating creatures are endemic to the islands. All<\/strong> the marine and land iguana species in the Gal\u00e1pagos are thought to be descendants of a single species, the green iguana, which is native on the South American continent. Arriving probably on vegetation rafts to the isles, the green iguanas, in order to survive, had to adapt to a new and different environment by evolving into two very distinct new species. One of these, the land iguana, adapted to feed on the vegetation of the islands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some of the green iguanas found themselves on islands where vegetation was sparse. These turned, through necessity, to the plant-life beneath the sea, and thus became the world’s only sea-going lizard. They have developed a flattened snout and sharp teeth in order to feed on the algae on the underwater rocks. Their tail is flattened vertically like a rudder to help them swim and they have long claws to grip the rocks while feeding so that they don\u2019t drift away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why ‘Christmas’?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There are seven sub-species of marine iguanas, varying in size and colour. Each is unique to a single island (or in a couple of examples, to two islands). Most are black or dark grey, but some have red colouring too, most notably on Espa\u00f1ola. Here the males have not only red but often green colouring too, which becomes brighter during the mating season, giving them the nickname of ‘Christmas’ iguanas.<\/p>\n\n\n