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| drawing by Jacob Bryce |
The Galapagos Marine Iguana is the only species that swims and also lives on the beach. They mostly live on Fernandina and Isabela islands. Most adult male iguanas can grow up to 5.6 feet while females normally grow to be 3.3 feet. The Marine Iguana is not very agile when it's on land but when it's in the water it's a very fast swimmer because of its flat tail.
When Darwin visited Galapagos he described them as "imps of darkness" and thought they were very ugly. He tripped over them constantly as there were hundreds of them all over the beaches. Marine Iguanas are cold blooded and can only stay underwater for between 20 to 30 minutes. They lay on the beach in the sunshine to absorb warmth.
They mostly feed off of algea and seaweed with very sharp claws and teeth. Although they can't drink salt water they have special filters in their nose that take the salt out of the water. Male iguanas also change color becoming red, green and blue to attract female iguanas during their reproductive season.
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