The Galapagos are famous for their fauna and flora, their uniqueness having captivated naturalists ever since the buccaneer William Dampier visited the archipelago in 1684 and Charles Darwin explored the islands in 1835. To the modern naturalist the islands are especially important for their endemic wildlife, with three quarters of the land bird species (including 14 species of Darwin’s finches and 4 species of mockingbirds), and most of the terrestrial reptiles (giant tortoises, land and marine iguanas, lava lizard, snakes and geckos) found nowhere else in the world.
