Physical Characteristics of the Giant Tortoise

History of the Giant Tortoise

• When Charles Darwin reached the Galapagos Islands in 1835, there were 15 species of giant tortoise.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Spanish sailors discovered the Galapagos archipelago -- a chain of islands -- in 1535. The Spanish sailors named the islands "galapago," the Spanish name for tortoise. When Charles Darwin arrived in the Galapagos Islands in 1835, there were 15 recorded species of giant tortoises. However, throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, merchantmen, pirates and whalers hunted them as food and a source of oil, depleting the population. Today, only 11 types of giant tortoises still survive.