Weighing over 500 lbs (250 kg) with shells measuring 59 inches (150 cm) Galapagos Tortoises are among the largest on earth. These land-based turtles are slow moving and known for their long life span of more than 150 years.
Early spanish explorers likened the shape of the giant tortoise shell to a Spanish riding saddle called a "galapago", and called the islands by that name. When the explorers first arrived, there were hundreds of thousands of tortoises on the islands.
Giant tortoises and Galapagos are linked in everyone's minds, but there is variety between the tortoises on the different islands of the archipelago. There are fifteen types, some extinct, some dangerously close to it. The tortoises were hunted and exploited for their shells, meat and eggs.
