page_title: Galápagos wildlife
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Galápagos wildlife / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: English: Santa Cruz giant tortoise (Chelonoidis porteri) in Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos National Park, Ecuador Français&#160;: Tortue géante de Santa Cruz (Chelonoidis porteri) dans l'île de Santa Cruz, Parc national des Galápagos, Équateur
context_page_description: The Galápagos Islands are located off the west coast of South America straddling the equator. The Galápagos are located at the confluence of several currents including the cold Humboldt Current traveling north from South America and the Panama Current traveling south from Central America make the islands cooler and provide the perfect environment for the unique mix of wildlife that inhabits the islands.
  These islands are volcanic in origin and were never attached to any continent. Galapagos Wildlife arrived here in one of three ways: flying, floating or swimming. Where in most environments larger mammals are normally the predators at the top of the food chain, these animals were unable to survive the journey. Thus the giant Galápagos tortoise became the largest land animal on the islands, and due to the lack of natural predators, the wildlife in the Galápagos is known for being extremely tame without instinctual fear.
  The Galápagos Islands are noted as a home to a large number of endemic species. The stark rocky islands made it necessary for many species need to adapt to survive here and by doing so evolving into new endemic species.
context_section_description: One of the best-known is the Galápagos tortoise, which lives on seven of the islands. It has an average lifespan of more than 150 years.
  The marine iguana is also extremely unusual, since it is the only iguana adapted to life in the sea. Land iguanas, lava lizards, geckos and harmless snakes can also be found in the islands. The large number and range of birds is also of interest to scientists and tourists. Around 56 species live in the archipelago, of which 27 are found only in the Galápagos. Some of these are found only on one island.
  The most outstanding are penguins, which live on the colder coasts, Darwin's finches, frigatebirds, albatrosses, gulls, boobies, pelicans and Galápagos hawks, among others. The flightless cormorant, a peculiar bird which has lost the ability to fly, and the Galapagos crake, nearly flightless, are also part of this rich fauna.
  On the other hand, there are many mammal species, mostly sea mammals such as whales, dolphins and sea lions.  A few species of endemic Galapagos mice (or rice rats) - the Santiago Galapagos mouse and the Fernandina Galapagos mouse - have been recently rediscovered.
caption: Santa Cruz giant tortoise
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2947", "Image ImageLength": "1965", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS REBEL T4i", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 11.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2014:12:17 11:01:33", "Image Artist": "BERNARD GAGNON", "Image ExifOffset": "316", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "998", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6571", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "71/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:12:07 14:30:32", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:12:07 14:30:32", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "995723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2827819/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "109", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2947", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1965", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "864000/149", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1152000/199", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "032151005487", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[18, 135, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "000041ef4f"}