Galápagos IslandsNo. 10 of 12Galápagos Tortoise
the patient one
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The tortoises who gave the islands their name
This is a true story. In 1535, the ship of Friar Tomás de Berlanga, Bishop of Panama, was becalmed in the middle of the ocean and currents carried it to some unknown islands. In his letter to the King of Spain he described what they found: sea lions, iguanas and galápagos so big that each could carry a man on its back.
“Galápago” is a Spanish word for certain tortoises. In 1570, the cartographer Abraham Ortelius drew the archipelago in his famous atlas as the islands “of the galopegos”, and so, thanks to the giant tortoises, the islands became known as Galápagos.
Centuries later, in the early 1970s, Lonesome George, the last of his kind, was found on Pinta Island. For 40 years he was cared for by park ranger Fausto Llerena. George died in 2012 and is now a worldwide symbol of conservation.
“Galápagos so big that each could carry a man on its back.”
Told by: True story of the Galápagos Islands (1535)
Up to 1.8 m
long, males
150+ years
the longest-living vertebrate
1 year
it can survive without food or water
16 hours
of rest a day
Galápagos Islands
It lives in the Galápagos Islands, from volcanic highlands to lowland coasts. When it’s hot it climbs to the highlands in search of shade, fresh food and ponds.
Fun facts
- It is endemic: it lives naturally nowhere else.
- It eats grass, leaves, flowers and even spiny cactus.
