66 Sea-lizards 



Another striking inhabitant of the Galapagos Is- 

 land is the unique Sea-Lizard (Amblyrhynchus), of 

 winch Darwin gave a good account, which must, how- 

 ever, be supplemented by the pictures in Mr. William 

 Beebe's Galapagos: World's End, a stately volume 

 forming a sumptuous appendix to Darwin's few 

 pages. What are the remarkable features? The ani- 

 mal is large for a lizard, up to four feet in length. It 

 is laterally compressed in its hind parts, especially 

 in the tail, and this is plainly an adaptation to swim- 

 ming, which is altogether of the undulatory type. 

 The giants are gregarious on land, but individualist 

 in the water. They graze on the short, succulent sea- 

 weeds more or less exposed at low tide, and if they 

 are covered by a wave they hold on tightly with their 

 twenty claws. Mr. Beebe did not see any spontaneous 

 diving, though the sea-lizards are usually credited 

 with this power. There seems, indeed, to be little 

 reason why they should dive, for the food is abundant 

 on the shallow-water rocks. Captain Colnett's state- 

 ment, quoted by Darwin, that "they go to sea in 

 herds a-fishing," is not very happy. 



During the night the sea-lizards lie in burrows or 

 in deep lava crevices; during their leisure time by 

 day they bask in the sun; when the tide is suitable 

 they graze among the seaweed, showing a marked 

 preference for quiet places. Darwin was much inter- 

 ested in the fact that he could not induce the Ambly- 

 rhynchus to enter the water. He could throw one in 

 by force, but it immediately clambered out ; and when 

 he chivied one on to an overhanging point of rock it 



