There is a group of is islands 965 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador in South America. They were discovered in 1535, and are called Galapagos Islands. The islands were famous for the huge tortoises that lived there. The name of the islands derives from these reptiles. ‘Galapago’ in Spanish means saddle, and refer to the tortoise shell. It is believed that long, long ago these giant turtles must have arrived in the island from South America, on pieces of driftwood.
Galapagos tortoises are the largest tortoises in the world. One of the most amazing facts about the Galapagos Giant Tortoise is that they keep growing for 30 to 40 years, reaching almost 1.5 metres. They also weigh about 227 kilogrammes. They are also the longest living of all vertebrates – that is, animals with backbones. Do you know these animals outlive humans? The oldest on record lived for 152 years!
Throughout the 19th century, giant tortoises were valued by sailors as food supply. Thousands of these tortoises were killed and the species died out. The last surviving tortoise called Lone-some George died in 2012 at the Galapagos national park in Ecuador.
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