Galapagos Travel Blog

The Amblyrhynchus, a remarkable genus of lizards, is confined to
this archipelago; there are two species, resembling each other in
general form, one being terrestrial and the other aquatic. This
latter species (A. cristatus) was first characterised by Mr. Bell,
who well foresaw, from its short, broad head, and strong claws of
equal length, that its habits of life would turn out very peculiar,
and different from those of its nearest ally, the Iguana. It is
extremely common on all the islands throughout the group, and lives
exclusively on the rocky sea-beaches, being never found, at least I
never saw one, even ten yards in-shore. It is a hideous-looking
creature, of a dirty black colour, stupid, and sluggish in its
movements. The usual length of a full-grown one is about a yard,
but there are some even four feet long; a large one weighed twenty
pounds: on the island of Albemarle they seem to grow to a greater
size than elsewhere. Their tails are flattened sideways, and all
four feet partially webbed. They are occasionally seen some hundred
yards from the shore, swimming about; and Captain Collnett, in his
Voyage says, "They go to sea in herds a-fishing, and sun themselves
on the rocks; and may be called alligators in miniature." It must
not, however, be supposed that they live on fish. When in the water
this lizard swims with perfect ease and quickness, by a serpentine
movement of its body and flattened tail--the legs being motionless
and closely collapsed on its sides. A seaman on board sank one,
with a heavy weight attached to it, thinking thus to kill it
directly; but when, an hour afterwards, he drew up the line, it was
quite active. Their limbs and strong claws are admirably adapted
for crawling over the rugged and fissured masses of lava which
everywhere form the coast. In such situations a group of six or
seven of these hideous reptiles may oftentimes be seen on the black
rocks, a few feet above the surf, basking in the sun with
outstretched legs.