And to think that only a few days before the section of the journey to the islands he writes to his colleague Henslow that he is mainly interested in the active volcanoes there
Perhaps the first association that comes to mind when we hear the name Galapagos Islands is "Charles Darwin". Darwin's visit to the Galapagos Islands had a decisive influence on the development of the theory of evolution based on natural selection. Charles Darwin, an unmotivated and rather unsuccessful medical graduate, accompanied Captain Robert Fitzroy as a companion and naturalist on the circumnavigation ship BMS Beagle.
When he left England in 1831 for a five-year journey, Darwin had little ambition that he would be able to produce groundbreaking scientific research. After surveying the coast of South America, the ship stopped at the Galapagos Islands. During his visit to the islands, Darwin noted that the unique creatures were similar from island to island, but perfectly adapted to their environments, leading him to think about the origin of the animals and plants on the islands.
Among those who plagued Darwin so much were the Pharisees who are now named after him. Later, Darwin will come to the insight that all Pharisees are descendants of the same lineage.
Years later in 1859, Darwin finally compiled all his observations in his famous book On the Origin of Species, drastically changing the scientific view of the origins of biological life.
While reading Darwin's works, it is easy to see the huge impression the Galapagos Islands left on the young naturalist even though his visit was very short. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
While the islands provided Darwin with the proof he needed for his groundbreaking theories, in turn, Darwin provided the islands with a unique place in natural history while putting the remote islands "on the map".
On July 12, 1835, before the section of the voyage towards the Galapagos Islands, Darwin writes in a letter to JS Henslow that he looks forward with joy and interest to this visit, mainly to study an active volcano.
Darwin and the Beagle stayed in the Galapagos Islands during the months of September and October 1835, during which time he had the opportunity to explore a handful of islands, collecting several species of local animals for future research by himself and his colleagues in England. The Beagle itself was too large to anchor in most of the islands so it sailed around the islands and smaller boats brought Darwin and the rest of the crew to shore where they could mingle with the endemic wildlife.
Between September 15-23, 1835, the crew stayed on San Cristobal Island (Chatham). While the crew caught some of San Cristobal's giant tortoises for food, Charles Darwin became intrigued by the tortoises and the types of plants on the island, as well as the rocky island and the lava that formed it.
September 24-28: Floriana Island (Charles): Floriana was an Ecuadorian penal colony while it was run by Englishman Nicholas Lawson and the Beagle team was allowed to go ashore to tour the colony. Darwin diligently collected many specimens of animals and plants and learned that you could tell which island a turtle came from by its shell.
In his journal, Darwin commented that the convicts on the island regularly ate turtles and that whaling ships and pirates also took these turtles. One such ship transported 700 turtles from Floriana for food during the voyage. In 1846 the species became extinct.
September 28 - October 4: Isabella Island (Albemarle) On this island, Darwin was amazed by the amount of marine iguanas that swam underwater. His first thought was that the iguana feeds on fish and small animals. However, when he studied their counterparts on James Island, he concluded that marine iguanas feed on algae.
October 4 - October 8 - Northern Islands: Marchena, Genovese and Pinta (Bindlo, Migdal and Abingdon): The Beagle tried to reach Abingdon Island but the attempt failed again and again due to the currents and winds. She did not finally dock at any of these islands and instead her commander decided to turn to James Island (Santiago), as they had run out of fresh water.
October 8 - October 17 - James Island (Santiago). The Beagle crew found no water at James Island and headed back to Chatham to resupply, Darwin with the ship's doctor, Benjamin Bino and their assistants stayed behind with a tent and equipment to spend the week exploring and collecting samples. They collected many samples, including some fish, snails, several types of birds, reptiles and some insects. This was probably the first time Darwin realized that the different islands were home to different species.
October 17 – October 20 – Isabella (Albemarla), Wolf (Wenham), and Darwin (Culpepper) Islands: After recapturing Darwin and his crew, the ship returned to survey the east coast of Isabella Island before moving to Abingdon (Finta) to launch a smaller boat expedition.
Darwin Island
On October 20, they surveyed the islands of Wenham (Wolfe) and Culpeper (Darwin) before sailing to Tahiti. Darwin never set foot on Culpeper land, the island that now bears his name.
For a summary on the website of the tour marketer in the Galapagos Islands
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- First chapter from a new book: Darwin's Slow Evolution by Davy Cowman
- A volcanic eruption is recorded in the DNA of a giant deer on Isabela Island in the Galapagos
- Islands in the Humboldt Stream
- Evolution as a theory that explains phenomena ranging from the development of the universe to the development of society - Yuval Neman
One response
Pretty !
It is interesting to note that in addition to the "marine iguanas"
There were several islands
(similar to those in South America)
Unfortunately pigs, dogs, cats
And other animals that came after the human settlers
completely exterminated the terrestrial iguanas,
After the problem was identified, the predators were removed
from two islands and were recently released there
Several hundred "terrestrial iguanas"