Nature
The Galapagos Islands are one of the most interesting and best studied of the world's archipelagos.
The Galapagos islands surfaced some five to ten million years ago. At such time no life existed on them. The life of the Galapagos had to arrive transported by vegetation rafts, by the wind or under its own energy.
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The difficulties a trip like this entails determines that very few species of animals can withstand this hardship. Hence, flora and fauna in isolated islands such as the Galapagos are consistently less diverse than in islands which were once part of larger land masses or that are considerably nearer to a continent.
The Galapagos plant and animal life has fascinated scientists and visitors alike for generations. There are few places in earth
where one can find animal and plant species that show so many degrees of evolutionary change in such a restricted area.
Approximately forty percent of Galapagos plants are endemic to the archipelago, and there is evidence that some of these plants continue to evolve into some other species. |
The soil in the Galapagos islands is not very developed. This is a trait of young volcanic islands which retards plant development and limits the life-forms that can be supported.
hese special conditions and the relative isolation of the Galapagos have prompted the evolution of unique life forms that fascinate both scientists and visitors.
Many of the animals in the Galapagos are of species that can withstand the hardship of an accidental journey from the continent. This possibly explains why there are no amphibians in the Galapagos, who are ill fitted to withstand direct sunlight, sea-water, etc., and could not likely resist a trip from the continent on what could be vegetation rafts.
The same applies to mammals, which are almost nonexistent in the Galapagos. In fact, there are only two genus of endemic terrestrial mammals to be found in the Galapagos: two bat species and several rat species.
This also might explain why the predominant form of animal life in the Galapagos are reptiles, which are better equipped to endure extreme conditions.
Perhaps the biggest draw to the Galapagos Islands is their peculiar, unfearing wildlife. As the animals do not seek to flee and mind their business, at times with spectacular displays, even in the close presence of humans, this allows for a deeply stirring experience that is hard to surpass.
More so, considering that many of Galapagos' animals are endemic to islands, existing nowhere else. It was their peculiar traits which inspired Darwin to issue his momentous book "The Origin of the Species"
The Galapagos have one of the highest levels of animal endemism in the planet, and it is this and other exemplary circumstances that have made the Galapagos to be recognized as a living laboratory for the study of evolution.
The Galapagos Islands are home to almost all the species (95%) that once lived there before humans arrived. In comparison, Hawaii is believed to have lost 50% of all of its original animal and plant species.
Lonesome George is an image, at the same time both dramatic and full of hope, of the Galapagos Islands. Its the only surviving specimen of a species that was once common to Pinta island. Scientists at the Galapagos have tried for several years, unsuccessfully, to get Lonesome George to mate.
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One of the most distinctive elements of Galapagos animals is the abundance of birdlife. Frigate birds, boobies, tropicbirds, pelicans, shearwaters, petrels and noddies can often be seen. For example, almost all breeding pairs of waved albatross in the world breed only in one tiny Galapagos island, Hood.
One of the Galapagos' many curiosities are its penguins. The Galapagos harbors the only known colony of penguins in the tropics..
There are also flightless cormorants which are unique to the Galapagos. Likely having arrived to the islands millions of years ago and evolved into this distinct species. This is one of the multiple examples one will find in the Galapagos on the workings of evolution.
The Galapagos also have important colonies of sea lions. Some research suggests that the Galapagos Sea Lion may be an endemic species.
Sally Lighfoot Crabs area sight to reckon, with their bright orange color and their numbers in the hundreds, they pepper the stark volcanic rocks of the Galapagos.
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One of the Galapagos most prominent inhabitants is the marine iguana, the only seagoing lizard in the world. With its antediluvian presence, they make for spectacular picture-ops. Its easy to find colonies of marine iguanas numbering in the hundreds basking in the suns in the shores of the Galapagos. They dive by mid-day and feed on algae, staying for as much as 30 minutes underwater on each dive.
The waters of the Galapagos harbor an extraordinary concentration of life. The presence of both the Humboldt and the El Niño current provide for this phenomenal circumstance.
Galapagos waters have been deemed to have one of the largest concentration of pelagic fish in the world. The lush richness of its underground environment have made the Galapagos to be ranked as the number one dive destination in the world for several years now.
Whale sharks, dolphins, manta-rays, Orcas, sperm whales, hammerhead sharks and many others are regulars of the Galapagos. |
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