Back to the boobies!

Hi. I found the answer to Savannah pd.1's question about the differences between male and female blue-footed boobies. In the case of the Blue-Footed Booby, the females are slightly larger than the males. Though the males tails are usually a little bit longer than a females tails. But these characteristics are hard to notice normally. The best way to tell the difference is by the sound it makes. Males make a whistle-like sound. But the females make more of a croak-like sound.

Thanks,
Daniel Kutzik pd.1

Have scientists figured out...

Hi. I have a question about the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands. I know that every island has a giant tortoise with a different shell shape. The reason for this is because the tortoises evolved to adapt to their habitat. I want to know if scientists have figured out what specifically causes the differences in the shells of the tortoises of each island. And if they did figure it out, what specifically caused the tortoises to evolve in the way they did?

Thanks,
Daniel pd.1

Dan, if I understand your question correctly about "what specifically causes the differences...", it is an adaptation to the vegetation of each island. For example, the tortoises with a raised front shell and long neck can feed on higher growing vegetation. Tortoises that feed on grasses or low growing vegetation will have dome-shaped shells. It is evolution at its finest. There is some interesting information about tortoises and the evolution of their shells at http://www.gct.org/tortoise.html. Check it out.

Why are they small?

Hi. I have a question that relates to my previous post about the different kinds of butterflies that live on the Galapagos Islands. According to the information that I found, the largest butterfly and moth on the Galapagos Islands are both not native to the islands. My question is why are the largest of the moths and butterflies species not native to the Galapagos? Is there a reason why the butterflies and moths native to the Galapagos are small?

Thanks,
Daniel Pd.1

Trash Anyone?

Hello Ms.Barrett. I have this one question that I had for a while now. How do they collect trash on the Galapagos Islands? You told me about recycling in class one day, but do they have trucks coming to pick trash as if in Mt. Laurel or do the people have to take trash/recycling items to a dump site or a certain place? Does the trash get taken to Ecuador to be dumped or is it on the Islands? I couldn't find anything so far but can someone else answer them? Thanks!

-Om 1st period

Butterflies & Moths

Hi. The answer to Stacy from Pd.9's question is yes, there are more butterflies other than the Blue Morpho. The endemic (native) species of butterflies in the Galapagos Islands include the Galapagos Sulfur Butterfly, which is very small and has bright yellow wings; the Large Tailed Skipper, which is another small butterfly but it has brown wings; the Green Hawkmoth, which is a large, bright green moth; and the Indefatigable Hawkmoth, which is a moth only found on Santa Cruz. Interestingly, there are a few residence species of butterfly that live on the islands. A residence species is a species that lives in more than one place and came to that location naturally. One of the butterflies that is a residence species to the Galapagos is the Monarch Butterfly, which came to the Galapagos Islands because milkweed was introduced there. It is also the largest butterfly of the Galapagos. Another residence species of the Galapagos Islands is the Fringed Noctuid, which is also the largest species of moths on the Galapagos. It's interesting also how the largest butterfly and moth of the Galapagos are not originally from the Islands. Hopefully that answered your question.

Sincerely,
Daniel pd.1

Good information, Daniel. Don't you think it is fascinating that when milkweed was introduced to the Islands, monarchs somehow found their way there? We are talking hundreds of miles from the mainland!

Collision!

According to http://www.galapagos-islands-tourguide.com/, the islands are on top of the Nazca plate. They are also about 1,000 kilometers from South America. I did the math, and the two areas will probably collide with each other in 142,857,142 years, or in a little less than 150 million years.

Stormy Weather

Miss Barrett,
I was wondering about the storms that come in on the islands. Do they have hurricanes, cyclones, typhoons? I know they are all the same things just made under different bodies of water, but can they get hit with all of them? Also, do they have tornadoes down there?

Rachel pd. 2