Friday, September 21, 2007

Scientific Names

I was wondering, what's the scientific name for the blue-footed booby?

Alex pd. 5

Alex, your question is about classification. All of the (discovered) organisms on this Earth have been classified or grouped. The levels of classification are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. The last two levels of classification, genus and species, make up the organism's scientific name. In class we have been studying O.e., the protozoan parasite that infects monarchs. O.e. is short for Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, the scientific name for this protozoan. Many scientific names are Latin or Greek based and may be challenging to read or say!

Ornithologists

Jazmin (2nd pd.)

According to www.galapagoscruises.us/useful_information/galapagos_name.htm, these beautiful islands got their name from the tortoises found on the island come from. Due to the tortoises' resemblance with a Spanish saddle, they were baptized with its name GALAPAGOS. Throughout the years, the name "Galapagos" was given to the islands. That is why when we talk about the Galapagos Islands we are talking about a group of islands full of these enormous tortoises.

Jazmin also wanted to share an excellent website she discovered:
www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Blue-footed_Booby.html

Jazmin,
Thanks for the information. The website you found is fantastic! Cornell University has a great ornithology lab (guess what ornithologists study?).

Predator-Prey Relationhips

Crystal (5th pd.)

What does the blue-footed booby eat? Also what eats it?

Crystal, thanks for the great questions! You are asking about the boobies' predator-prey relationships. The blue-footed booby feeds in a very special way. I am adding to your questions, what adaptations allow these birds to feed the way they do? I look forward to getting the answers to our questions!

Are there red-footed boobies also?

Pam in first period asks...

I've heard of the red footed booby, do they live there too? Also, I noticed that the blue footed booby has a blue beak, does the red footed booby have a red beak, or a blue one?

Pam, thanks for your questions. Maybe we can get Michele to illustrate a red-footed booby for our blog!

Blue Morpho

Stacy, period 9

I was wondering if there any other species of butterflies living in the Galapagos Islands besides the Blue Morpho Butterfly you were telling us about in class? I found out some information about the Blue Morpho Butterfly. Its scientific name is Morpho menelaus. It lives in South and Central America, including the Galapagos Islands, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. It is a neotropical butterfly, which means that they are part of a geographical division in South America. The females are are not as brightly colored as the males and have a brown edge with white spots surrounding the blue area. The Blue Morpho Butterfly has a wingspan of about 6 inches (15 cm). For food, they drink juices of rotting fruit using their straw-like proboscis (mouth).

Stacy,
I had mentioned in class seeing the blue morpho in Ecuador, South America. That is great you found in your research that they are found on the islands. I hope I see one on my expedition. A few years ago while doing a bird study in the Andes of Ecuador, I saw the blue morpho in the wild. Before that day, I had only seen them in pictures. It was such a beautiful sight! Only the upper part of the wings are blue; the bottom of the wings are brown. When the butterfly is flitting around, it flashes blue, brown, blue, brown, because of this color variation. Thanks for the information, Stacey.

It was an accident!

Shade' (Pd. 2) discovered...

On March 10, 1535, Thomas de Belanga discovered the Galapagos Islands by accident! When traveling to Peru, his fleet was shipwrecked. On the islands, Belanga saw enormous tortoises. That is why the islands are named “Island of the Tortoises!”

Thanks for your input, Shade! Now we know exactly why the islands were named Insulae de los Galopegos or Island of the Tortoises!