- Did you know the Galapagos Islands were Ecuadorian?
These Galapagos Island fun facts will teach you so much about the islands. And did you know what an influence they had on Mr Charles Darwin himself?
- There are seven species of lava lizards that are a part of the Galapagos Islands.
- Darwin noticed that each tortoise on the Galapagos Islands could be identified by the shape of their shell, with their being two different types of shells.
- Tortoises have the longest life spa of any animal on Earth. (They can go months without food or water.
- The most famous giant tortoise of the Galapagos Islands was Lonesome George in 1971 on Pinta Island. He was the last survivor of his species.
- Since Darwin’s theory, the Galapagos Islands are world-renowned and a symbol of ecological importance and preservation.
- The Galapagos Penguins are one of the smallest penguins in the world. They are only just over 1.5 feet tall. (They are also the only ones that live across the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere.)
- Charles Darwin published a book in 1859 that changed the way we look at the world, detailing the mechanism of evolutionary change by natural selection.
- Weighting over 270kg and living to be over 150 years old, they hold the record of the longest life span of any animal on Earth! They have adapted to survive months without water or food.
- Fresh water is scarce on the Galapagos Islands. The only island with a limited supply is San Cristobal.
- There are 13 species of gorgeous finches, known as Darwin’s finches, after scientists who studied the means of their evolutionary changes and named them that.
- Charles Darwin said, ‘the natural history of this archipelago is very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself ’, about the Galapagos Islands.
- Bacteria was the first to come to the island, followed by spores of ferns, mosses, algae, and fungi plants.
- Darwin took samples of finches from the islands, thinking they were unknown birds. His friend John Gould identified the birds, not as a different species but as ‘an entirely new group’ with 12 subspecies.
- In the 1900s, Ecuador reached out for potential buyers for the islands, to get the country out of debt. Countries like the US, UK and Peru were all interested in the possible purchase of the archipelago.
- Because of the extensive wildlife, the islands are considered a natural museum.
- The government pushed to colonize the islands and between the 1920s-30s any person that fished a fish would earn the right to free land, free taxation and the ability to maintain their citizenship.
- Animals were thought to have made it to the island via the ocean currents, tortoises floating and other smaller animals and iguanas by floating on top of things like tree trunks or other natural rafts.
- The data recovered by Charles Darwin at the Galapagos Islands led to great historical and scientific change.
- The Galapagos Islands originally had an English name, before they were given the Spanish one it still has today.
- The first plants of the Galapagos Islands were mangroves that grew from seeds that literally floated to the island.
- Baltra was a United States Army Air Force base and Americans constructed the first airstrip there. (This was a strategic site so they could guard the Panama Channel from there.)
- More than 150,000 people visit the Galapagos Islands each year.
- Since the 18th century, whalers have barrel dropped their letters, so other sailors returning home could take them to where they needed to go. If you can believe it, this post office service is still happening today in 2025.
What was the coolest thing you learned from one of the Galapagos Island fun facts? Tell us all about it in the comments!