A majority of the species found in the Galapagos are endemic, which means they adapt to the changing environment.
They evolve and change. The islands were all formed within the last 5 million years. Consequently, this means the environment has altered considerably from the mainland where many of the species arrived from. As you may know, Charles Darwin famously created the Theory of Evolution, something scientists still study today.
The quick answer is, when Charles Darwin visited and studied the Galapagos, he found a clear pattern that each island hosted similar creatures, but those creatures had adapted perfectly to their environment. This is because of the unique Humboldt Current that passes through the Galapagos and brings plankton that thrives in cold water.
This provides food for larger animals. We highly recommend snorkeling or even diving to get up close and personal to the tortoises, manta rays, sharks, and colorful fish.
When you pause and consider it, there are endless reasons to visit the Galapagos Islands, and many of those reasons make the Galapagos a great travel destination. Come with us and discover an undiscovered land in the geology of the Galapagos Islands, a unique spot of the earth with an environment nearly untouched by man. While there has been some speculation that the Incan culture made an early visit to the Islands in the , many historians attribute the possible journey of the Inca Tupac Yupanqui to the Easter Islands, and lacking documentation, this theory is widely dismissed.
Fray Tomas de Berlanga, the Bishop of Panama documented the officially first visit to the islands in Delegated to investigate the accounts of the barbaric actions of the conquistadors in what is now Peru, his ship, caught in a dead calm, drifted westward in the ocean currents.
With water sources depleted, the Bishop and crew searched the new islands for fresh water, almost entirely in vain. Frustrated, and suffering, the men resorted to crewing the native cactus for water.
Disenchanted, they left the islands, but not without sending word to King Carlos V of Spain, telling of the strange and foolishly tame wildlife and the numerous galapagos giant tortoises , and the name stuck.
The islands appeared on the map late in the 16th century as the "Insulae de los Galopegos". Also motivated by the conquistadors on the continent, another group of lost sailors dubbed the islands with another name. In , a group of insubordinate soldiers of Pizzaro attempted what might have been South America's first coup d'etat. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format.
When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.
Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives. The theory of natural selection was explored by 19th-century naturalist Charles Darwin.
Natural selection explains how genetic traits of a species may change over time. This may lead to speciation, the formation of a distinct new species. Their laterally flattened tails propel them through the water, while their long, sharp claws help them cling to rocks. Contrary to their fierce, spiky-headed appearance, marine iguanas are herbivores, feeding primarily on algae and seaweed. Inside the barrel, they left letters for other seamen on homeward-bound ships to deliver by hand.
The tradition continues to this day, with thousands of letters passing through the hands of visitors to Post Office Bay.
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