Marine Iguana
A marine iguana feeding on algaeThe marine iguana is the only known marine lizard in the world. On Charles Darwin's visit to the Galapagos Islands, he wrote:
They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl and seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'.
They can submerge for up to an hour to collect the red and green algae that grows on the sea floor, as that is what they eat. They spend the rest of their time in the sun restoring body heat, as the water in the Galapagos is quite often cold. Just like the other animals of the Galapagos, marine iguanas have evolved with few defenses, as they have few predators. When rats were accidentally introduced to the island, they began preying on the eggs of the iguanas, which is a contributing reason as to why the iguanas are slowly becoming endangered. An interesting adaptation of the marine iguana is that it "sneezes" salt, which can form a white patch on its head. As an adaptation to living in salt water, they have developed a gland that connects to the nostrils which removes salt from the body by "sneezing".
They are as black as the porous rocks over which they crawl and seek their prey from the Sea. I call them 'imps of darkness'.
They can submerge for up to an hour to collect the red and green algae that grows on the sea floor, as that is what they eat. They spend the rest of their time in the sun restoring body heat, as the water in the Galapagos is quite often cold. Just like the other animals of the Galapagos, marine iguanas have evolved with few defenses, as they have few predators. When rats were accidentally introduced to the island, they began preying on the eggs of the iguanas, which is a contributing reason as to why the iguanas are slowly becoming endangered. An interesting adaptation of the marine iguana is that it "sneezes" salt, which can form a white patch on its head. As an adaptation to living in salt water, they have developed a gland that connects to the nostrils which removes salt from the body by "sneezing".