Marine iguanas: photos, sizes, habits, interesting facts

If you were in the Galapagos Islands, then you must have met a sea iguana. The photo of this animal looks awesome, but it is not without its particular harsh beauty. The sea iguanas, in appearance, resemble dinosaurs that lived many millions of years ago. It is these animals that we want to give special attention to in this article.

What a sea iguana looks like

The Galapagos Islands impress travelers with a bizarre combination of a lacy foamy surf, white sands and a black pile of basalt. And among this unusual natural beauty there lives a unique creature that does not occur anywhere else in the world. This is a special kind of lizards - marine iguanas. This solid animal with large strong paws, long menacing claws and sharp horn comb. A kind of miniature prehistoric dinosaur, accidentally preserved to this day. The body of the reptile is covered with a dense scaly layer. The wide head is decorated with a protective spiked helmet.

Marine iguanas are wrapped in armor to the tip of a long tail. Caudal scales larger, quadrangular. It is laid out in transverse rows, but does not prevent the animal from moving its tail during the voyage. The tail itself is flattened from the sides. A large marine iguana, about a meter and a half in length, spends a lot of time in the sea. The adult lizard weighs 10-12 kg.

The comb on the back of the animal looks very menacing. Skin scales on it are triangular, slightly elongated in shape. Legs, although they look very powerful, are quite short. The fingers are equipped with a membrane that helps to swim. Painted sea iguanas in brown, greenish-gray or brown color.

Lifestyle

Iguanas have sharp eyesight, they can swim and dive perfectly. On land they do not have enemies, so they allow themselves to be sluggish and lazy. But in the water you often have to flee from sharks, so slowness here can be fatal. Therefore, the marine iguana habits correct, depending on the environment in which it is located.

The favorite occupation of lizards on land is to bask in the sun. This is due to the peculiarities of the thermoregulation of the animal. The temperature of his body depends on the environment, and to get enough energy for a normal process of life, you have to accumulate heat and distribute it through the body. Overheating of the marine iguana does not threaten. It gives off excess heat through the skin of the belly.

Relationship in the family

Darwin called marine iguanas the descendants of hell, so terrible was the appearance of these lizards. But in fact they are not too aggressive. For life marine iguanas create family groups, which includes one adult male and up to ten females. Young individuals are kept separately, but also get into groups. Sometimes several families are united in a large community.

Every male looks beyond his territory. Strangers to "family" land are not allowed. Having seen the stranger, the male warns about the violation of the border. He takes a steady pose and starts shaking his head. If the intruder has not cleared, then a fight begins. Usually, outsiders come to occupied territory, having views on the "master" harem, so that the fighting is serious.

Behavior in water

Marine iguanas rarely sail away from the shore. In the water, they make wavy horizontal movements. Diving animals not for the sake of pleasure, but for food or fleeing from sharks. Male iguanas are bolder and stronger, they can afford far more swimmers than females. Young animals always keep in shallow water.

What else is able to surprise a marine iguana? Interesting facts related to the circulation of these animals, scientists gathered. In order not to rise often to the surface and not consume excess energy, a reptile while in water saves oxygen. Blood circulation slows down, only vital organs are supplied with blood. Thus, the lizard can stay under water for more than 1 hour.

What does the animal feed on?

Of course, the sea iguana looks very impressive and scary, but it is not a predator. Marine iguanas are classified as herbivorous reptiles. They eat mostly seaweed. It was for them that the iguanas learned to dive. Some species of algae are riddled with coastal stones, and lizards carefully scrape them off.

Reproduction

Marriage games are not a favorite occupation of the male iguana. Attraction to his harem he experiences only once a year. During this period, the scales of the male become brighter, brown and reddish spots appear on it, which attract active females.

The fertilized female lays several eggs in the fossa. Masonry at her small - 2-3 pieces. Above his treasure the female sprinkles warm sand. Around the places of masonry, fights often occur, since there are few sandy areas in the Galápagossa, mostly the islands are made up of volcanic rock. Sometimes females destroy mating rivals, freeing up space for their offspring.

In warm sand eggs ripen for about four months. Then a young person appears, who joins the parent group. In the diet of young animals is present not only vegetable, but also animal food. This is necessary for babies to grow.

Marine iguanas can hardly be called caring parents. They do not protect their offspring from predators. So most of the youngsters become prey to gulls, snakes or dogs and cats. People try to destroy stray dogs in order to preserve the number of sea iguanas, but this does not help much. Unfortunately, these animals are now classified as vulnerable species.

A few words about fitness for life

The constant contact with salt water during bathing or eating food caused the sea lizard to develop special glands that relieve it of excess salt. These saline glands are connected to the nostrils of the lizard.

Salt flies out during sneezing. If nature did not take care of the creation of these glands, the life span of the lizards would be much less, since their kidneys could not cope with salt surpluses. However, due to the fact that the habitat of the species is limited only to the Galápagossa, it is not well understood. There is no exact information about the lifespan of these lizards.