Galápagos Islands

🇮🇹 Ecuador📅 1978 Inscribed

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Situated in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 km from the South American continent, these 19 islands and the surrounding marine reserve have been called a unique ‘living museum and showcase of evolution’. Located at the confluence of three ocean currents, the Galápagos are a ‘melting pot’ of marine species. Ongoing seismic and volcanic activity reflects the processes that formed the islands. These processes, together with the extreme isolation of the islands, led to the development of unusual animal life – such as the land iguana, the giant tortoise and the many types of finch – that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection following his visit in 1835.

Insight I

One of the first 12 sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978.

Insight II

The volcanic islands and Darwin's finches inspired Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection.

Insight III

Home to many endemic species, including the famous Galápagos tortoise and marine iguana.

Three ocean currents and three tectonic plates make it one of the richest marine ecosystems in the world.

Insight IV

Darwin's observations of bird life on the Galapagos were even more striking. The Galapagos finches were clearly varied from island to island, especially as regards the shape of the beak. Darwin demonstrated that these variations were closely linked to the way the finches found their food on the different islands. The ground finches with steeply profiled beaks lived on pine cone seeds, the little warbler finches lived on insects, and the tree finches lived on termites extracted from bark and branches ... Each and every one of the species had a beak that was perfectly adapted to its own food intake. Could all these finches be descended from one and the same species? And had the finches adapted to their surroundings on the different islands over the ages in such a way that new species of finches evolved? -- Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy