Galapagos Islands: The Evolution Of Tortoises

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Tortoises have been around for a long time. The oldest fossil for a giant tortoise is 220 million years. Their life expectancy is around 100 years. Over time they have evolved with their surrounds depending on the island they lived on. Charles Darwin observed them on the Galapagos Islands. This is where Natural election was born.
The Galapagos Islands sit 600 miles west of South America, on the equator. There are ten main islands, and some smaller ones, all formed from a volcanic rock called basalt. Darwin arrived on the September 15, 1835. Over the next 5 weeks, the crew passed through a number of Islands. They collected specimens. They also making notes and thinking about what he observed.
He didn’t like the iguanas. He didn’t realize these …show more content…
Tortoises living on more arid islands were forced to stretch their necks to reach branches of cactus and other plants. As a result, these species had longer necks and a high peak to the front edges of their shells, which helped them to stretch their heads almost vertically.
Observations such as these were the foundations for the theory of evolution. They suggest that species were not fixed for ever but changed with time. It help contribute to the immense diversity of life.
Darwin's recorded arguments for the evolution of different necks in these tortoises. All individuals of the same species are not identical. In a single clutch of eggs there will be some hatchlings, which, because of their genetic constitution, will develop longer necks than others. In times of drought such individuals will be able to reach leaves higher off the ground than their siblings and therefore will survive. The brothers and sisters in the clutch who possessed shorter necks would be unable to stretch and reach food and therefore would starve to

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