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Unesco Paper

There are many different kinds of life forms that makeup the Galapagos Islands spread throughout its sixteen main islands and six smaller islands. The Galapagos Islands have many different life forms that make up three different categories which include; birds, marine life, and land dwellers. “In 1987 UNESCO recognized the islands as a world heritage site, and in 1985 a biosphere reserve. This was later extended in December 2001 to include the marine reserve”. (Wikipedia, 2007) Some of the more rare land dwellers include giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and lava lizards. The Galapagos Islands were in fact named after the giant tortoises that were on the island. These giant tortoises can survive a long time without any food or water. The giant tortoises can survive on any pert of the islands that make up the Galapagos Island but do better when in the vegetated parts of the island. At one point there were around fourteen or fifteen different types of these giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands but today there is more like ten. Another type of species found on the Galapagos Islands is the land iguana. When Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos Islands there were so many that it was hard for Darwin and his colleagues to find an area to pitch a tent. Now these land iguanas only remain left on three of the Islands. These land iguanas are herbivores and eat berries and leafs. Another rare type of land species found in the Galapagos Islands is the lava lizard. These lava lizards are very active during the day and are always catching insects. There are also known for spending a large portion of their day just sitting on rocks. The lava lizards live on the smaller islands and their population is diminishing due to black rats and feral cats. Now only one species of lava lizards can be found on any one island at a time. The Galapagos Islands is also home to many marine life species which include fur seals, California Sea Lions, and rays. The fur Seals can only be found in...