On Ecuador's Galapagos Islands, there was once a world-famous attraction, the Darwin Arch, but in recent years it has collapsed and damaged due to wave erosion, and the local landmark has disappeared.
The disappearance of Darwin's Arch deserves to be discussed, but the species that live on it are even more worthy of our attention. The most widely known species in the archipelago is the Galapagos tortoise.
Galapagos tortoises are endemic to the local species and the world's largest land turtle, the average weight of the male turtle on the island is more than 500 pounds, the length of the shell can reach 120 centimeters, when outsiders first landed on the archipelago, they were shocked by this group of burly tortoises.
While lamenting the magic of nature, people are also thinking about where such a huge tortoise comes from.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the source of galapagos tortoises</h1>
The sheer size of the Galapagos tortoise has naturally attracted the attention of many scientists, who have been looking for the answer to the mystery of the turtle's size. After years of searching, a mainstream concept has been accepted by scientists: small animals tend to evolve into larger sizes after settling on the islands.
This is exactly what became known as the "island effect", proposed by Bristol Foster in 1964.
Although the Evolution of galapagos tortoises on the islands has not been seen in person, they have justified the conjecture in a different way. They found Malagasy cobweb turtles, which were close to the Galapagos tortoise population, which was smaller than the tortoise, with a shell no more than 15 centimeters long, and was a small tortoise.
This group of cobwebled turtles came from two places, in Madagascar and some of its adjacent independent islands, ensuring that they were geographically isolated. Cobweb turtles in Madagascar are smaller, while cobwebs that enter nearby desert islands are rapidly growing in size.
The reason is that when small tortoises enter desert islands with no predators and plenty of food, they will increase their size. This could help them cope with the unstable climate on the islands while gaining access to a wider range of food sources. For desert islands with low food ratings, such a change is undoubtedly conducive to competition.
In the same way, the ancestors of galapagos tortoises came here a long time ago, evolved huge bodies, and thrived here. In addition to leisurely grazing, they also learned how to go to the cave collectively to avoid bad weather.
Of course, for small animals, the "island effect" is advantageous, but this is limited to small animals. If it is replaced by large animals, the effect changes, such as elephants, lions and other large animals into the desert island, their size will become smaller, suffering from what we call "dwarfism".
This is because there are fewer food sources around it, and it is possible to reduce its own consumption after becoming smaller. At the same time, after becoming smaller, the breeding cycle will become shorter, which is conducive to survival on the island.
After thousands of years of evolution, the Galapagos tortoise has become indistinguishable from other large creatures on the continent. Supposedly, there are no predators on this island, there is enough food, and the population should be increasing. But this is not the case, and all this has changed because of the arrival of humanity.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > human catastrophe</h1>
After the Age of Discovery, the Voyagers found the isolated island and, as stated at the beginning: they were shocked by these giant creatures.
But shock to shock, they were not afraid of these huge creatures. After all, the tortoise is slow to move, the attack power is weak, and it is not a human opponent in any way. Humans are also fortunate to find this "meat" on this island.
Around the 16th and 19th centuries, the food of the Age of Discovery was not very good, and the food could not be preserved for long, resulting in these navigators having to replenish local food every time they went to a new place, allowing themselves to sail farther.
After sailing to the Madagascar region of the Indian Ocean, they discovered 18 species of giant tortoises, including galapagos tortoises. But all turtles have two characteristics, anti-hunger, live for a long time, the back of the tortoise can also be used as a container, was one of the most ideal meat supplies for navigators at that time, so it was also called "live canned" by navigators at that time.
As a result, it is conceivable that during this dark time, every ship passing through the indian Ocean island will bring a large number of giant turtles. The highest record is that a ship took 1200 giant tortoises at a time, and even the famous Darwin hunted tortoises here. Only a small percentage of tortoises escaped the fate and were raised by humans, and most of the other tortoises basically perished.
Fortunately, in recent decades, people have gradually realized the importance of tortoises, and gradually changed from hunting to protection. Some tortoise populations have gradually regained their lives, but it is impossible to return to their previous state.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > summary</h1>
The Galapagos Islands, without human interference, are the domain of tortoises. It's a pity that they met the real overlord of the planet, otherwise their lives might have been better.
But now we are no longer the human predators of hundreds of years ago, and it is not too late to protect the creatures of nature from now on, and I hope that the tortoises can prosper in the future!