Kelsey Ables

My Trip To The Studying Marine &Land Iguanas Galapagos

Works Cited "Amblyrhynchus Cristatus Bell, 1825 - Encyclopedia of Life." Encyclopedia of Life. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. <http://www.eol.org/pages/795986>. "Conolophus Subcristatus GRAY 1831 - Encyclopedia of Life." Encyclopedia of Life. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. <http://www.eol.org/pages/454869>. "Fearless Iguanas Too Cool for Their Own Good - Life - 29 November 2006 - New Scientist." Science News and Science Jobs from New Scientist - New Scientist. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. <http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10678-fearless-iguanas-too-cool-for-their-own-good.html>. "Marine Iguanas, Marine Iguana Pictures, Marine Iguana Facts - National Geographic." Animals, Animal Pictures, Wild Animal Facts - National Geographic. Web. 16 Dec. 2010. < http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/marine-iguana/>. Stewart, Paul D., and Richard Dawkins. Galpagos: the Islands That Changed the World. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2006. Print.

When researching the Marine Iguanas Nutrition I found:

-Marine Iguanas are vegetarians inter tidal seaweed

-their diet consists of various species of

Nutritio n

Iguanas nutrition I found:

-Land Iguanas are omnivorous but are primarily herbivorous -they mainly eat plants and the fruits -they remove the spines of cacti with their claws -this prickly pear cactus makes up 80% of their diet -Land Iguanas get their water most of the time from this cactus -during the rainy season they drink from puddles and feast of yellow flowers centipedes, and carrion

-their diet also contains algae that grows and pads of cactus trees on the pores in the tidal zone lava rocks -this algae grows abundantly on the southern shores -they eat by grazing off rocks -their heads have evolved for more efficient eating -their snouts are also somewhat flattened in the front so that they can graze similar to a cow or horse -the scrape food off of rocks with shaky/tearing motions

-only the larger Marine Iguanas dive for -Some iguanas eat insects, food, the smaller iguanas feed at the low tide

-to get ride of excess salt they sneeze

-Land Iguanas become sexually mature between 8 and 15 years (depends on island) -after mating females migrate to sandy areas -they have to travel up to 15 km to nest -Land Iguanas lay 2-25 eggs in a burrow that is 18 inches deep -After laid, eggs hatch in 90 to 125 days -the young Iguana then might take up to a week to dig itself out of the burrow -males aggressively pursue the female -the female Iguana is attracted to the males burrows -a Land Iguanas life is about 50-60 years Some other interesting info I found on

R e p r o dWhile observing Land Iguanas uReproduction I found: c t i o

While observing Marine Iguanas reproduction I found:

-Marine Iguanas mate and breed annually over a 3 month span -the nesting months are from January to April (depends on island) -the males defend the mating territories -females are attracted to the males based on color, the brighter the better -females lay between one and six eggs in a burrow 30 to 80 cm deep -they can lay their eggs up to 300 meters inland -females guard burrows for several days and then leave the eggs for incubation -incubation takes 95 days -after being born the young iguana has no parental care -the Iguanas lifespan is about 6.4 years

Marine Iguanas while in the Galapagos:

Interesting facts found while I was in the Galapagos on absorption Land Iguanas:
-their scientific name is Conolophus subcristatus -they are yellow or brown in color with spots throughout the ventrum and dorsum -they are greater than 48 inches in size -they maintain their body temperature by lying in the sun -they allow finches to remove ticks from their bodies -cats and rats hunt young Iguanas and Iguana eggs

-there are 7 sub-species of Marine Iguanas -Marine Iguanas have very few natural predators -the Marine Iguanas scientific name is Amblyrhynchus cristatus -the Marine Iguana is the worlds only marine lizard -Marine Iguanas are colored anywhere from grey to black -Smaller Iguanas lose heat faster than Larger ones -Iguanas are colored dark because its aids in heat

Interesting Facts