Galápagos Marine Iguana

The marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), also known as the sea iguana, saltwater iguana, or Galápagos marine iguana, is a species of iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador). Scientists figure that land-dwelling iguanas from South America must have drifted out to sea millions of years ago on logs or other debris, eventually landing on the Galápagos. From that species emerged marine iguanas, which spread to nearly all the islands of the archipelago. Each island hosts marine iguanas of unique size, shape, and color. Marine iguanas mostly eat seaweed and algae. Larger iguanas will dive into the sea in order to forage, sometimes diving as deep as 12 m and staying submerged for more than an hour. Under normal circumstances, they make shallow dives, usually lasting around 10 minutes. The smaller iguanas keep out of the water, feeding instead on algae on rocks in the tidal area. Their short, blunt snouts and small, razor-sharp teeth help them scrape the algae off rocks, and their laterally flatten