Eco System, Galapagos: Part 2 Evolution

Hello and welcome to our second post in the Galapagos Series.

Today we are going to talk about the iconic evolution in the Islands.

The evolution on Galapagos is incredible. It was these islands that gave Charles Darwin the idea of Evolution by Natural Selection. He landed on the Galapagos island on September 16th 1835.

The Galapagos Islands are home to hundreds of different types of animal. Creatures like the Galapagos penguin swam to the islands. Giant Tortoises and Marine Iguanas were carried to the islands by ocean currents. They can survive for months without food or water. Birds carried seeds to the islands when they stopped for a break. Insects like spiders got blown off branches and landed on the islands.

The arrival of pollinators was crucial for plant life and therefore also the entire ecosystem. Carpenter Bees make nests in tree trunks. It is thought that some carpenter bees' nests were carried across the ocean as drift wood. Carpenter bees like yellow flowers, so plants evolved to have yellow flowers.

In the 4 000 000 years since the Galapagos were first formed, their wildlife has evolved in a way different to the rest of the world. Evolution has been faster on Galapagos than any where else on this earth. There are species here that are so different to animals from the rest of the world that they look like they have come from another planet.

All of the of tortoise on Galapagos are descended from the same original species. Today there are 15 types of Galapagos tortoise which shows how they have evolved differently according to their habitat. They are different, for example, in the shape of their shell and the length of their necks. So, the tortoises with very high rounded shells have evolved that way because it's the best shape with which to move through vegetation. Those with longer necks can stretch upwards to find their food.

I hope you enjoyed this post about Galapagos.
Thank you!

Sources:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0761-9
https://www.livescience.com/62902-galapagos-islands.html

Images:
Charles Darwin: This image, owned by Corin Royal Drummond (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Carpenter bee: This image, owned by Jim Nelson (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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