Galapagos

Mammals

      There are not as many mammals on Galapagos and you might think..  So far, what we think the  overall number is for land mammals on Galapagos is six! There are four species of rice rats, and two species of bats. But they are the only the ones that are native to the Galapagos, because there are introduced mammals, like  cats, dogs, goats, pigs, and also some plants, I'll talk more about them later.

     There is also more mammals that live in the waters around Galapagos, such as Galapagos Sea Lions, Galapagos Fur Seals, and then some dolphins and whales. Here are some more facts. Galapagos Sea Lions  have a population of about 50,000. They also might have been the first to be encountered by humans, and they interact a little sometimes. They are the largest found animal on galapagos- full grown bull males can weigh up to 550 pounds! They eat fish (unsurprisingly.) Another sea mammal of Galapagos is the fur seal. They live in packs of either a male and several females or the males without females to protect band together in "bachelor" packs. They don't like people or heat and live in shaded, rocky parts of the Galapagos islands because of that. They were hunted in the 1800 almost to extinction for their really insulating coats. They eat squid and fish, and are nocturnal hunters. They also hunt less when the moon is full because they are more visible in the water. They are similar to sea lions socially. Now on to rice rats. There are only 4 of the seven species left on the islands, and only on ones that humans aren't on. That is because humans brought black rats with them which took out the rice rats because of competition and viruses that the black rats had. We think that they came from South America on vegetation so they currently hold the longest rodent ocean crossing on not human make things. There is not much known about the bat species on Galapagos besides that there are two. They are known as the Lasiurus cinereus, the hoary bat from North America, who is light brown with white wing tips. They like to roost on shrubsand mangrove trees. Lasiurus brachyotis is the other species of bat. It migrates between the coastal zone and the Highlands (check the Geography section). This species of bat hunts close to the ground, so there is no competition with the hoary bat, who hunts in the trees. They may be related to the red bat of North America. The aquatic mammals that we have not talked about yet are the dolphins and whales. They have a little fur and they use fat for energy and warmth. The whale hunting of 1900 was centered around the Galapagos. They also fall into two groups, with baleen and with teeth. One most commonly recognised is the Humpback Whale, and there are many others. The toothed ones are the Sperm Whale, Killer Whale, False Killer Whale, The Pilot Whale, and a variety of dolphin species, including the Bottlenose and common White-Bellied being the most common. The Bottle-Nosed lives in schools of 100+ and like to race alongside ships. The mammals of Galapagos are few but fun!