The Galapagos Islands

Episode 4-6 - After being adrift on a raft for some time, our heroes find themselves on a strange group of islands.

Galápagos Islands or Colón Archipelago, group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, constituting a province of Ecuador, about 1050 km (about 650 mi) off the western coast of South America. The archipelago consists of 15 large and several hundred small islands lying on or near the equator. The principal islands are Isabela (in English, Albemarle), San Cristóbal (Chatham), San Salvador (James), Santa María (Charles), and Santa Cruz (Indefatigable). The total land area is 7844 sq km (3029 sq mi).
The Land
The islands are volcanic in origin, with level shorelines and mountainous interiors culminating in high central craters, some of which rise more than 1524 m (5000 ft) above sea level. Several volcanoes are active. The islands are fringed with mangroves; farther inland, although still in coastal regions, where little rain falls, the vegetation consists chiefly of thorn trees, cactus, and mesquite. In the uplands, which are exposed to a heavy mist, the flora is more luxuriant. The climate and the temperature of the waters surrounding the islands are modified by the cold Humboldt Current from the Antarctic.
The Galápagos group is noted for its animal life, which includes numerous species found only in the archipelago and different subspecies on separate islands. Unique to the archipelago are six species of giant tortoise (Spanish galápago-thus the islands' name). Other reptiles on the islands include two species of large lizards in the iguana family: a burrowing land lizard and an unusual marine lizard that dives into the ocean for seaweed. The islands contain as many as 85 different species of birds, including flamingos, flightless cormorants, finches, and penguins. Sea lions are numerous, as are many different shore fish. Part of the Galápagos is a wildlife sanctuary.
Population and Economy
The islands have a total population of (1990) 9785, mainly Ecuadorians. The administrative center is Baquerizo Moreno on San Cristóbal. Vegetables, tropical fruits, and coffee are grown. Fishing for tuna, groupers, and spiny lobsters is important.
History
The islands were uninhabited at the time of their exploration by the Spanish in 1535. During the 17th and 18th centuries they were used as a rendezvous by pirates and buccaneers. British and United States warships and whaling vessels landed frequently at the Galápagos in the 19th century. The islands were not settled until after they were annexed by Ecuador in 1832. In 1835 the British naturalist Charles Darwin, traveling aboard HMS Beagle, spent six weeks studying the animal life of the Galápagos. His observations furnished considerable data for his Origin of Species (1859). A satellite tracking station has been on the Galápagos since 1967.

Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Episode 5 - Esteban and company are very hungry when they land on the island and manage to flip over the tortoise and plan to make a meal of him.

Giant Galapagos Tortoises

The giant tortoise, Geochelone elephantopis vandenburghi, is one of the six species of tortoise from the Galapagos Islands. The largest species of tortoise in the world, these slow-moving reptiles live to be well over 100 years old. All tortoises lay eggs, though the destruction of nesting habitats worldwide has left many species, including the giant tortoise, endangered.

Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Episode 4, 6 - Among the archipelago's strange animal inhabitants are the iguanas which frighten the brave Sancho and Pedro.

Iguana, common name for the larger lizards of the iguana family. These reptiles are known for their impressive courting and defensive displays, such as raising their bodies and bobbing their heads vigorously. They are found mostly in the Americas and, outside the western hemisphere, only in Madagascar, Fiji, and Tonga. Lizards of the iguana family are similar to the agamine lizards of Eurasia, except that their teeth are solidly joined to the inner edge of the jaw instead of to the margin of the jawbone.
Iguanas are diurnal. They have distinct eyelids, large external eardrums, and often conspicuous throat pouches, or dewlaps. Each limb has five free toes ending in sharp claws. Unlike most other lizards, iguanas are vegetarians. Their habitats vary: Some live in trees, some near water, and some in arid habitats.
The green iguana is abundant throughout tropical America, living in trees often overhanging water. Adult males are grayish or orangish, with dark bars on the sides of the body and broad black circles ringing the tail; the females are generally greenish. Green iguanas grow to about 1.8 m (about 6 feet). They have a row of leathery spines along the back from the neck to the tail. The long, powerful tail is usually slightly flattened. Both the flesh and eggs of this species are valued as food. The rhinoceros iguana, a terrestrial species found in Haiti and Puerto Rico, gets its name from the three horns on its forehead. Two iguanas are confined to the Galápagos Islands, including the marine iguana, the only lizard that regularly inhabits the sea. It lives on beaches and enters the water to forage on seaweed. The monitor lizard is sometimes called an iguana (see Monitor).
Scientific classification: Iguanas belong to the family Iguanidae. The green iguana is classified as Iguana iguana, the rhinoceros iguana as Cyclura cornuta, and the marine iguana as Amblyrhynchus cristatus.

Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Episode 6 - Penguins were among the animals that inhabited the Galapagos Islands in MCoG.

Penguin, common name for flightless, aquatic birds of the southern hemisphere. The name penguin originally was applied to the now extinct great auk of the North Atlantic, a large flightless, black and white bird with an upright stance. Similar flightless birds were discovered subsequently in the southern hemisphere, and they were also called penguins, a name that is now restricted exclusively to these birds.
The cold Humboldt Current along the west side of South America permits two species to breed in what are otherwise tropical latitudes: the Galapagos penguin on the Galápagos Islands, and the Humboldt penguin on the South American coast and offshore islets.

Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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