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The Galápagos or Galapagos Islands are named for their giant tortoises, [3] which were more plentiful at the time of their discovery. The Spanish word galápago derives from a pre-Roman Iberian word meaning "turtle", the meaning it still has in most dialects.
Daphne Major is a volcanic island just north of Santa Cruz Island and just west of the Baltra Airport in the Archipelago of Colón, commonly known as the Galápagos Islands. [1] [2] It consists of a tuff crater, devoid of trees, whose rim rises 120 m (394 ft) above the sea.
This is a list of endemic vascular plants of the Galápagos Islands, which are politically part of Ecuador. The islands are home to dozens of endemic species and subspecies of plants, including endemic genera Brachycereus, Jasminocereus, Scalesia, Sicyocaulis, and Trigonopterum. [1] Plants are listed alphabetically by plant family.
Jasminocereus (meaning "jasmine-like cereus", referring to the flowers) is a genus of cacti with only one species, Jasminocereus thouarsii, endemic to the Galápagos Islands, territorially a part of Ecuador. In English it is often called the candelabra cactus (a name used for other cacti with a similar appearance). At maturity it has a branched ...
The Galápagos Islands are home to a remarkable number of endemic species. The stark rocky islands (many with few plants) made it necessary for many species to adapt to survive and by doing so evolved into new species. It was after visiting the Galápagos and studying the wildlife that a young Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution. [2]
Their work revolutionized scientists understanding of the pace of evolution, proving that evolution can be observed in 'real time'. Weiner describes years of painstaking field work on a desert island among the Galapagos, Daphne Major. Following years of intense drought or flooding, the Grants and their students were able to demonstrate all the ...
The lizard genus Anolis on the islands in the Caribbean has also been the subject of numerous studies investigating the role of competition and character displacement in community structure. [19] Lesser Antilles islands can only support Anolis species of different sizes, and the relative importance of character displacement versus size at ...
Like all but one of the other Darwin's finches, the small ground finch is endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Abundant and widespread, it is found on every island in the archipelago except for the Genovesa, Wolf and Darwin islands. It is most common in arid coastal and transition areas, though it moves into the highlands following the breeding ...