"I have not as yet noticed by far the most remarkable feature in the natural history of this archipelago; it is, that the different islands to a considerable extent are inhabited by a different set of beings. My attention was first called to this fact by the Vice-Governor, Mr. Lawson, declaring that the tortoises differed from the different islands, and that he could with certainty tell from which island any one was brought. I did not for some time pay sufficient attention to this statement, and I had already partially mingled together the collections from two of the islands. I never dreamed that islands, about 50 or 60 miles apart, and most of them in sight of each other, formed precisely the same rocks, placed under a quite similar climate, rising to a nearly equal height, would have been differently tenanted; but we shall soon see that this is the case." Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle
Each of the largest islands has a set of organisms that are largely not found on the other islands. The first example presented is that the governor could identify the origin of a tortoise from the shape of the shell. But there are more as Darwin hints and I'll let him tell the rest.
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Celebrated 45th birthday yesterday. It was nice. Wife gave me the Game of Thrones book series.
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