Santa Cruz Island is home to the second largest population of giant tortoises in Galapagos. They are dome shaped because they have evolved on this Island where food is plentiful on the ground, in comparison to their relatives with saddleback shapes in places where food is much higher and harder to reach – an impressive fact about how populations are different from island to island. This is just another example of adaptive radiation on the archipelago.
- Daily Expedition Reports
- 01 Nov 2022
Santa Cruz Island, 11/1/2022, National Geographic Endeavour II
- Aboard the National Geographic Endeavour II
- Galápagos
Walter Perez, Naturalist/Certified Photo Instructor
Walter was born in a very small town on the mainland of Ecuador. His first trip to the Galápagos was when he was 12 years old, visiting friends and aunt, who had moved to the islands. From the first moment he saw the Islands, he fell in love with the...
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