WHAT DID DARWIN LEARN IN THE GALAPAGOS

A GIANT GALAPAGOS TORTOISE Lives to 100 years old on its Pacific island.

What did drawin learn in the Galapagos?

Charles Drawin's first understanding of evolution blossomed in 1835 on the Galapagos islands, a thousand miles off the coast of Ecuador.

This remote 19-island archipelago is located at the confluence of three ocean currents, giving it a unique climatic situation in which species such as the penguin and the flamingo can coexist.

Fully one - third of Galapagos vascular land plants are endemic, as are most of the reptiles, nearly all of the breeding land bird, and almost a third of the marine species.

The highly challenging conditions of the Galapagos, with its arid climate, poor soil, and rugged terrain, afforded Drawin a chance to witness how species-such as the giant tortoise and the Galapagos finches-adapt in an almost laboratory-type setting.

Such far-reaching observations and connections underpinned his theory of evolution. Today ,the archipelago is under threat from various stresses, despite its U.N. designation as a World Heritage site.