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History of the Galapagos Giant
Tortoises
I won't try
to explain the intricacies of big turtles to those reading this entry
(or to anyone who isn't), but these guys were pretty amazing to see in
person. A couple of quick tidbits, for those who are curious:
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Giant tortoises have been around for 30
million years. That's a long time to you and me.
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Way back when, some of the turtles made it
to the Galapagos Islands, presumably on an overpriced tour, and decided to
stay. As they evolved to suit various climates and island
conditions, each sub species gained slightly different adaptations (shell
shape, size, etc).
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Check out that neck... I
wish I could do that |
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When the humans arrived in the 17th and 18th
centuries, all hell broke loose. After several months in a boat with
other guys, even a tortoise looks attractive... to eat (I'm not sure
what you were thinking). So, they butchered them, literally by the
thousands.
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Real threat of extinction came into play
when the full impact of man's arrival was felt on the environment
(introduced species like dogs, goats and pigs directly competed with or
preyed upon the tortoises).
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The Darwin Research Center (www.darwinfoundation.org)
has worked diligently to reintroduce tortoises, and to date has
successfully reintroduced 2500+ of the rascals.
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Turtle Poop and Other Curiosities
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Here's some
good stuff... Turtles have incredibly slow metabolisms. So
much so that they actually fail to process the majority of food that
they eat. So, these fun little piles of leaves are actually
turtle poop.
Another
interesting thing is that we were told that they don't have bones in
their legs. That's why they bend all around as if, well, as if
they didn't have any bones in their legs. Check out the pictures
above. Personally, I'm not to sure I buy that, but, if it's not
true, these guys are really double jointed. Maybe they do a lot
of yoga. I hear that's good for turtles. |
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| Finally,
these guys live to be really, really old... like 200 years
(seriously). They can survive for up to a year without food or
water. Ironically, this ability to survive is part of what led
to their near extinction. Sailors would take the turtles into
their ships because they could survive for months in the hold of the
ship, always guaranteeing fresh meat when the canned tuna ran out. |
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