Biology of the Galapagos Giant Tortoises

The jumbo tortoise is probably the best know of all Galapagos animals and even gave the archipelago its arrive at; Galapago means tortoise in Spanish and may derive from the backchat for saddle, referring to the distinctive saddle-like shell of most of the tortoises. Galapagos giant tortoises set up think up to 250 kg and delay for more than 100 years. They ar thought to belong to upright unrivaled species, Geochelone elephant opus, with 14 different races or sub-species, triplet of which are believed to be out(p).\n\nPersecution\n\nIn the 1600s, buccaneers started to use Galapagos as a base, restocking on water and repairing their boats in front setting off to flak catcher the Spanish colonies on the mho American mainland. But the main attraction of the islands were the giant tortoises which were store and stored live on jump on ship where they survived for many an(prenominal) an(prenominal) months, providing invaluable fresh meat. In the 1800s, whaling ships and wherefore fur-sealers receiveed tortoises for food and many more were killed for their fine turtle oil from the juvenile 1800s until early this century. Early settlers wherefore capture them for their meat and unclutter large areas of their habitat for agriculture. The settlers excessively introduced domestic animals, many of which went bad and had a disastrous upshot on the tortoises.\n\nNo-one knows exactly how many giant tortoises there were primarily but it has been estimated that more than 100,000 were hunted in total everyplace the centuries. The result today is that triple races of Galapagos giant tortoise are extinct while just one individual survives from a fourth. in that location are about 15,000 tortoises left(a) altogether. As the hunters found it easier to collect the tortoises living round the coastal zones, the healthiest populations today tend to be those in the highlands. Persecution still continues on a much little scale; more than great hundred t ortoises have been killed by poachers since 1990.\n\n reach\n\nIt is likely that all the collapse races of giant tortoise evolved in Galapagos from a common ancestor that arrived from the mainland, floating(a) on the ocean currents. Although this seems an tall(prenominal) journey it is known that Galapagos tortoises can float easily in sea water. Only a single pregnant distaff or one male person and one female requisite to arrive in this way, and whence survive, for Galapagos to be colonised. It is likely that the...If you desire to get a generous essay, order it on our website:

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