Red Rock Crab from Wikipedia
Frigatebird from Biegel
Galapagos Penguin from Konica Minolta
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Animals of THE GALAPAGOSThe Galapagos Islands were founded by the Spanish in 1535. The islands get their name from the endemic Galapagos tortoise. It is the region with the greatest volcanic activity.
Red Red Rock Crab- are located in the surf of the ocean, the eat algae off of rocks, they are agile, and they can jump. Despite their name not all of them are red. (Eicher, 2014). Flamingos- they are immigrants from the Caribbean and have the smallest population worldwide. They get their pink appearance from aqueous bacteria and beta carotene in their food supply. (Galapagos Conservancy, 2015). Galapagos Albatross- are the islands largest birds with a wingspan of almost two meters. Galapagos Wood Bee- prefers yellow flowers, which is why yellow flowers dominate the islands, they are one of the islands' pollinaters. Frigatebird- snatch food away from other birds, instead of fishing for the food themselves. The males have a red throat patch that can be inflated to attract females. (Eicher, 2014). Galapagos Penguin- are the only penguin that lives around the equator, they are found in the western islands. They are also one of the smallest penguins in the world. (Galapagos Conservancy, 2015). Blue-Footed Booby- they dance to form partnerships, mirroring one another. Their blue feet are an indication of health. (PBS, 2013). The Galapagos Islands are home to a wide range of species, many of which are endemic to the islands. The islands have very harsh conditions but many species have adapted to live there. El Nino often influences population numbers for many of the species. During an El Nino year, many populations suffer but recover in the following years. Many of the species on the islands are endangered because they are endemic and their populations are already so small. (Ericher, 2014). |
Evolution in the galapagos
Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution was born when he visited the Galapagos in . He realized that mocking birds and Galapagos tortoises' characteristics were slightly different on different islands. The mocking birds on Espanola are larger, their beak is longer, and their breast feathers are white and speckled. On Genovesa the mocking birds have a clean, white breast feathers. Darwin noticed that the tortoises had two different types of shells: one was dome shaped, the other saddle shaped. The shape of the shell differed depending on what island the tortoise was on. (Aceserve, 2011). Every island has a different elevation, which influences the vegetation, islands with higher elevation have larger trees and islands with lower elevation have smaller trees and shrubs, because of this difference every island has different sources of food. Species living on different islands have adapted to be able to consume the food that is available to them. Although the Galapagos finches are the famous example used for explaining evolution, Darwin payed little attention to them because he thought they were completely unrelated. (Biointeractive, 2014).
Galapagos Finch Evolution: There are thirteen different species of finches that inhabit the islands, they all evolved and diversified from one species that came to the islands from South America. Their beaks serve as their tool, depending on what they eat and what is available for them to eat, influences the size and shape of it. The warbler finch has a fine, needle-like beak for the insects it eats, the woodpecker finch has a robust beak to pick up sticks to get beetle and termite larvae from underneath bark, and the cactus finch has a long, sharp beak to probe cacti. The small, medium, and large ground finch are all different sizes and have different sized beaks. The island Daphne Major, a small and has simple island, shows how Darwin's theory is a fact. During droughts there is less vegetation and there is competition for for food, on Daphne Major it was observed that when this happened all the smaller seeds were eaten and only larger seeds were left. Finches with smaller beaks were not able to eat the large seeds and died from starvation, the large beaked finches were able to eat the large seeds, they survived and mated. The next generation of finches beaks were 4% larger than the previous generation. The opposite happens during times of heavy rain, smaller seeds are available and larger seeds are scarce, so smaller beaked finches are more likely to survive than larger beaked finches. These changes in beak size from generation to generation are an example of natural selection and are observed in a short period of time on Daphne Major. A specie becomes separate species because there will be some sort of geographic separation and go through different changes to adapt to their environment. When the single specie becomes two separate species they are not longer able to mate with one another. With finches they only respond to the song of their own specie and can discriminate different finches based on appearance, this keeps them from mating with one another. (Biointeractive, 2014).
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Woodpecker Finch from Fulton
Large Ground Finch from Khil
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Origin of Birds
Caudipteryx Fossil from Wikipedia
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Birds have a complex history and scientists depend on fossils to tell them the taxonomic history of them. Birds today are evolved from theropods, a suborder of dinosaurs. Theropods, like the tyrannosaurus rex, had wish bones and some had S-shaped necks like birds. For a while scientists were unable to answer how birds got feathers when they evolved from dinosaurs, which had scales, but the fossil of a sinosauropteryx preserved a primitive kind of feathers. Then the caudipteryx was discovered to have feathers identical to those on a bird on the tail and hands, but they did not have wings. Feathers evolved in dinosaurs because they
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provide insulation and can be used in communication. Wings were first used for grabbing and eating but later modifications allowed them to be able to fly. Birds' toothless beak, small boneless hand, breast bone, and clawless fingers evolved in different ways and they did not evolve together. When the mass extinction of dinosaurs happened about sixty-five million years ago, a small group of toothless birds, avian dinosaurs, survived and evolved to the birds we see today. (Biointeractive, 2015).
Eradication of Feral Animals
Along with the invasive goats, there have also been invasive pig and donkeys that were introduced to the islands by humans. The pig and donkey populations on the islands affected the fauna and flora just as the invasive goats. They would feed on plants, invertebrates, eggs of the Galapagos tortoise, lava lizard, green sea turtle and the Galapagos petrels' eggs. In 1968 limited pig control for Santiago Island was initiated by the Galapagos National Park and Charles Darwin Research Station. Their initial traps were ineffective, so in 1974 they began hunting the pigs and in 1985 they started poisoning the pigs by using goat meat and sea turtle eggs as bait. After 1995 the pig control program was enhanced and more pigs were killed using the hunting and poisoning methods. In October 2000 the last pig on Santiago was killed by poison, this was the first time the island had been pig free in 150 years. (Cruz, 2005). Feral donkeys were discovered on Floreana Island in 1834 and were also discovered on Santiago, Isabela, San Crsitobal, and Santa Cruz. Hunting the donkeys on the islands in the 1970s but was stopped in the 1980s. It was not until 2004 that hunting resumed, there was aerial hunting on Santiago and northern Isabela Island, which removed the remaining donkeys.
Ecotourism in the galapagos
The Galapagos Islands have become one of the world's prime ecotourism destinations. Since 1991 the rate of visitation to the islands has increased 9% a year. Some of the money that is made through tourism goes to funding conservation on the islands. With tourism in the Galapagos growing, development is also growing on the islands and there are more cruises surrounding the islands. (Epler, 2007). It is important that with this development that this extraordinary place remains well intact. Tourists should be kept on defined paths when they are on the islands to keep them from disturbing as little wildlife as possible. The Galapagos management plan only allows a certain number of visitors at select sites in the national park and has increased ship based accommodation to prevent more development on the islands. Tourists have had several negative impacts on the islands, geological features are being damaged from trail wear and erosion, birds that live near tourist destinations have an increased heart rate and body temperature, and there is trash floating in the waters that has been killing sea life. The Galapagos indigenous culture is being damaged from tourists, exotic species are being introduced, and more resources from the national park are being extracted. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park Services have advised the government to close down the harvest of sea cucumbers because the population numbers were low but fishers rioted. (Sitnik).
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Tourists on the Islands from Perks
Tourists arriving to the Galapagos from Galapagos Conservancy
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I think that it is extremely important for conservation efforts to be made to protect the Galapagos Islands from further tourism damage. The park should have strict limits on the number of visitors and the amount of development on land. The government should also limit the amount of immigrants who move there. There should be strict laws on the harvesting of sea life, especially when the population is so low, regardless of the amount of money that can be made on the resources on the islands, it should not be allowed to be overharvested. The Charles Darwin Research Station and the Galapagos National Park Services are doing all that they can to keep this pristine place in its natural state but there needs to be laws made by the government that helps protect the place beyond what these two organizations are doing.
Works Cited
Aceserve. (2011, November 11). Evolution in the Galapagos. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=n3265bno2X0&feature=youtu.be
Biointeractive. (2014, August 26). Galapagos Finch Evolution. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcM23M-CCog&feature=youtu.be
Biointeractive. (2015, Febuary 13). The Origin of Birds. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4nuWLd2ivc&feature=youtu.be
Cruz, F., Donlan, C., Campbell, K., Carrion, V. (2005). Conservation action in the Galapagos: feral pig (Sus scrofa) eradication from Santiago Island. Biological Conservation. 121. 473-478
Eicher, B., Mayer, T. (2014, October 2). Animals of The Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=5_oN570Kjxs&feature=youtu.be&list=PLyOVSbari5z8dF-o3H7aY8PJpPwLesLOT
Epler, B. (2007). Tourism, the Economy, Population Growth, and Conservation in the Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Retrieved from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagospopgrowthtourism07.pdf
Galapagos Conservancy. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.galapagos.org/
PBS. (2013, November 1). Dance of the Blue-Footed Booby. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z922by9_6Fw&feature=youtu.be
Sitnik, M. (n.d.). Sustainable Ecotourism: The Galapagos Balance. National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagossustainableecotourism.pdf
Aceserve. (2011, November 11). Evolution in the Galapagos. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=n3265bno2X0&feature=youtu.be
Biointeractive. (2014, August 26). Galapagos Finch Evolution. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcM23M-CCog&feature=youtu.be
Biointeractive. (2015, Febuary 13). The Origin of Birds. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4nuWLd2ivc&feature=youtu.be
Cruz, F., Donlan, C., Campbell, K., Carrion, V. (2005). Conservation action in the Galapagos: feral pig (Sus scrofa) eradication from Santiago Island. Biological Conservation. 121. 473-478
Eicher, B., Mayer, T. (2014, October 2). Animals of The Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=5_oN570Kjxs&feature=youtu.be&list=PLyOVSbari5z8dF-o3H7aY8PJpPwLesLOT
Epler, B. (2007). Tourism, the Economy, Population Growth, and Conservation in the Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Retrieved from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagospopgrowthtourism07.pdf
Galapagos Conservancy. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.galapagos.org/
PBS. (2013, November 1). Dance of the Blue-Footed Booby. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z922by9_6Fw&feature=youtu.be
Sitnik, M. (n.d.). Sustainable Ecotourism: The Galapagos Balance. National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved from http://amalavidaexperience.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/2/39029957/paper-galapagossustainableecotourism.pdf
Picture Citations
Biegel, B. (2014, January 23). Frigatebird. Retrieved from http://www.ww2research.com/frigatebird/
Fulton, I. (2011, November 20). Woodpecker Finch. Retrieved from http://www.pbase.com/image/140485664
Galapagos Conservancy. (2015). Tourism and Population Growth. Retrieved from http://www.galapagos.org/conservation/conservation/conservationchallenges/tourism-growth/
Khil, L. (2013). Birding and Bird Photography. Retrieved from http://www.khil.net/blog/?tag=finch
Konica Minolta. (n.d.). Endangered animals list. Retrieved from http://www.konicaminolta.com/kids/endangered_animals/library/sea/galapagos-penguin.html
Perks, L. (2013, March). The Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/6h8hbfrwzmfx/the-galapagos-islands/
Wikipedia. (2010). Caudipteryx fossil. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caudipteryx_fossil.jpg
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Grapsus grapsus Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grapsus_grapsus_Galapagos_Islands.jpg
Biegel, B. (2014, January 23). Frigatebird. Retrieved from http://www.ww2research.com/frigatebird/
Fulton, I. (2011, November 20). Woodpecker Finch. Retrieved from http://www.pbase.com/image/140485664
Galapagos Conservancy. (2015). Tourism and Population Growth. Retrieved from http://www.galapagos.org/conservation/conservation/conservationchallenges/tourism-growth/
Khil, L. (2013). Birding and Bird Photography. Retrieved from http://www.khil.net/blog/?tag=finch
Konica Minolta. (n.d.). Endangered animals list. Retrieved from http://www.konicaminolta.com/kids/endangered_animals/library/sea/galapagos-penguin.html
Perks, L. (2013, March). The Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from https://prezi.com/6h8hbfrwzmfx/the-galapagos-islands/
Wikipedia. (2010). Caudipteryx fossil. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caudipteryx_fossil.jpg
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Grapsus grapsus Galapagos Islands. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grapsus_grapsus_Galapagos_Islands.jpg