The Dangers of Hatching Eggs in Volcanos: Galapagos Land Iguanas

Land iguanas are an interesting species and not too much is known about the creature. The National Geographic tried to capture these lizards and their birthing patterns no matter how dangerous the task was.

They followed the female land iguana after the male and female mated and went seven miles to the rim of the Galapagos Volcano where the found 30 females getting ready to lay their eggs.

This was no ordinary task. They had to travel down the volcano, which took them three hours and they knew that it could erupt at any minute. Walking down was a challenge in itself, as they walked on dried magma that was very thin, almost glass like, and could break at any minute. They could not have a vehicle to drive down the volcano’s layer so they had to take all of the heavy equipment themselves. The dangers of the volcano erupting was not the only fear they faced as the volcano also had many avalanches.

There were positives and negatives about filming the experience. The positive thing was that land iguanas simply were not afraid of humans, so they could get great close-up shots. The negatives came from being inside the volcano. Even with shoes, the volcano’s hot ash was burning their feet. They had troubles getting the shot because hot ash would get on the lens and the fog would get in the way.

The National Graphic group found that they laid the eggs inside of the volcano because the steam rises up and warms the eggs. They lay anywhere from two to 25 eggs. Being cold-blooded, they absorb heat from the sun by lying around on the volcanic rock and at night sleep in the burrows to conserve their body heat.

These lizards, which have a yellowish-orange belly and are brownish-red above, have a 50 to 60-year lifespan and start mating around the age of eight to fifteen years old; depending on which island they are from.

The Galapagos iguanas certainly are of interest, especially risking their lives trying to lay their eggs even if though the volcano could erupt and kill the eggs anyways. National Geographic used their talents to film the lizards and now we have much more information on the Galapagos land iguanas.