Gibson’s World

In my opinion, Lava Lizards are one of the most interesting reptiles in the Galapagos. They are interesting to me because they have evolved differently on one island from the next and because they can be so different from each other.  In this blog, I’ve included lots of pictures of lava lizards, including this Espanola Lava Lizard on the left.

There are eight species of lava lizards (the Galapagos, Expanola, Floreana, Marchena, Pinta, Pinzon, and San Cristobal), only two of which we saw. The difference in them between islands is amazing even though they are actually so close on a map. For example, the lava lizard on Fernandina (an island with lots of black lava) are much darker than those on Santa Cruz (an island with almost no black lava). Even though both are the same species, they have evolved differently and someday might be different species.

Lava Lizards are relatively small lizards with long, tapering tails, very long toes, and have variable markings. Some have stripes, spots, speckles, or nothing at all. A few have stripes, spots, and speckles! Their size can also vary from a couple of inches to a foot. Males are usually from 2-3 times heavier than the females, though.

Another interesting thing about them is their behavior. Unlike most lizards, lava lizards are diurnal or active during the day. They are also highly territorial and challenge both male and female intruders by doing push-ups with their front legs which is really cool to watch. I always wonder whether they ever get tired.

Even though most lizards are shy and hard to find, lava lizards in the Galapagos are everywhere and occur on almost every main island but Genovesa. They are usually found near or on rocks and boulders sunning themselves. They are so common that on some hikes, we couldn’t go for more than five minutes without seeing more than one. I was surprised that their predators (hawks, snakes, herons, centipeds, and mockingbirds) weren’t balloons from indulgement because there were so many lizards to be eaten.

It was amazing seeing so many lizards in the Galapagos (more in one day than I had ever seen in my life) and I enjoyed seeing not just the lava lizards, but also the land iguanas, marine iguanas, the turtles and tortoises, the birds, the marine life, and much more. The one animal we didn’t find was a snake, but I hope someday that I can come back to the Galapagos and next time maybe see some snakes, hybrid iguanas, Santa Fe land iguanas, some other birds, and a bunch more that we didn’t see. Although we didn’t see everything, it was by far the best place for wildlife I’ve been in my life.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 6:55 am and is filed under South America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.