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The Galápagos

Species

The sheer number and variety of life forms both on land and in the water in the Galápagos is quite awe-inspiring. Nearly 9,000 species call the islands and their surrounding waters home. The isolation of the Galápagos has resulted in some of the highest levels of endemism in the world. Endemic species – found nowhere else in the world – are common throughout the islands, and many are nearly unchanged since prehistoric times.

Famous Finches: The basics of evolution and adaptation. The Galápagos’ 13 species of finches provided striking evidence for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Subsequent scientific research supports the theory that finches of a single species arrived and dispersed to different islands, where they encountered different types of food sources. Those individuals with beak shapes that took advantage of the available food were most likely to reproduce and pass on their traits. This process of evolution – called adaptive radiation – continued until each group of finches developed into a different species.

On land
Of the thousands of animals found here that resemble their mainland ancestors, many have evolved so extensively in isolation that they are now classed as distinct species. Over three-fourths of the reptiles and land birds are endemic and often exclusive to certain islands.

In the water
The marine world is equally rich. The staggering diversity of marine life ranges from cold-water species such as penguins – the only species to occur in the Northern Hemisphere – and marine iguanas – the only lizard to swim in the ocean. Other marine species include enormous aggregations of sea lions and warm-water species like manta rays and corals. Some 400 species of fish swim alongside sharks, turtles, urchins, sea cucumbers, crabs, anemones, and sponges.

Plant life
Due to the volcanic nature of the island the plant life of the Galápagos is rather scarce. In fact, there are fewer species of flora because not many plants are hardy enough to cross oceans and establish themselves. Those that thrived had to adapt to having few insects or animals to pollinate their flowers or disperse their seeds. Today, one-third of the over 500 plants are endemic, including unique species of cotton, pepper, and tomatoes.

Land	Water	Plant
Land Iguana	Sally Lightfoot Crab	Mangroves
Galápagos Giant Tortoise	Galápagos Penguin	Scalezia Tree
Flightless Cormorant	Pacific Green Turtle	Prickly Pear Cacti
Blue Footed Booby	Galápagos Sea Lion	Lava Cacti