Abstract
Gazing out the window of my airplane, I was filled with wonder at the beauty and immensity of the aquamarine waters of the Galapagos archipelago, its many rugged islands laced with white sandy beaches and black basalt. Adding to my excitement about arriving at this biological paradise was the desire to get to know a unique creature found nowhere else on the planet. Charles Darwin found them to be so hideous he called them 'imps of darkness'. However, when I finally got to meet the marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) they were neither hideous nor imps, but complicated and wonderful organisms.