Galápagos Wildlife

     The Galápagos Islands, which straddle the equator, are located approximately 1,000 km west of mainland Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. They are home to many endemic species, including the giant tortoise, marine iguana, blue- and red-footed boobies, Darwin's finches, and the only species of penguins residing in the Northern Hemisphere. These islands were made famous with the publication of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species in 1859, in which he proposed natural selection as a mechanism for evolution.  Darwin had visited the Galápagos in 1835 while on a five-year voyage of the HMS Beagle.  In only a couple months on the islands, he gathered enough specimens of plants and animals to help him formulate the idea of natural selection when he returned to England.
 

Blue-footed booby, Isla Seymour
  Molting land iguana, South Plaza Island
  Sea lions on Isla Seymour, with Isla Daphne (Major) in the background
  Marine iguana
  Giant tortoise, Isla Santa Cruz
  Bob feeding a giant tortoise at the Darwin Research Station, Isla Santa Cruz
  Our alumni tripsters:  Heber and Carolyn Nielsen ('71), Frank Metheny ('57),
and Magill Lange ('98)

Back to Andes and Galápagos main page

To Bob Carson's Homepage