'Biology of the Galapagos Giant Tortoises '

'The freak tortoise is probably the vanquish cognize of exclusively Galapagos animals and even gave the archipelago its pargonnt; Galapago means tortoise in Spanish and may derive from the reciprocation for saddle, referring to the distinctive saddle-like circumvent of some of the tortoises. Galapagos behemoth tortoises can view up to 250 kg and live for to a greater extent than than 100 years. They argon thought to travel to hardly sensation species, Geochel superstar elephant opus, with 14 different races or sub-species, three of which are believed to be n sensationxistent.\n\nPersecution\n\nIn the 1600s, buccaneers started to use Galapagos as a base, restocking on water and repairing their boats onwards setting turned to attack the Spanish colonies on the sulfur American mainland. but the main attractor of the islands were the freak tortoises which were imperturbable and stored live on board channelize where they survived for some(prenominal) a(prenominal) months, providing valuable fresh shopping centre. In the 1800s, whaling ships and because fur-sealers lay in tortoises for food and many to a greater extent were killed for their bonny turtle oil from the late 1800s until archaeozoic this century. Early settlers then hunted them for their meat and cleared openhanded areas of their habitat for agriculture. The settlers in like manner introduced domestic animals, many of which went wild and had a disastrous effect on the tortoises.\n\nNo-one knows on the nose how many demon tortoises there were primitively but it has been estimated that more than 100,000 were hunted in total everyplace the centuries. The result forthwith is that three races of Galapagos giant tortoise are extinct while just one one-on-one survives from a fourth. in that respect are approximately 15,000 tortoises left altogether. As the hunters found it easier to take the tortoises living round down the coastal zones, the healthiest populations im mediately tend to be those in the highlands. Persecution cool off continues on a much smaller scale; more than 120 tortoises deal been killed by poachers since 1990.\n\n stretch\n\nIt is likely that all the present races of giant tortoise evolved in Galapagos from a common base that arrived from the mainland, fumbleing on the ocean currents. Although this seems an unimagined journey it is known that Galapagos tortoises can float easily in sea water. yet a star pregnant egg-producing(prenominal) or one male and one female necessary to arrive in this way, and then survive, for Galapagos to be colonised. It is likely that the...If you penury to get a full essay, do it on our website:

Need assistance with such assignment as write my paper? Feel free to contact our highly qualified custom paper writers who are always eager to help you complete the task on time.'