The flowers are yellow are 8 to 12 cm long and can reach diameters between 5 and 7 centimeters. The fruits are green to brown, shaped like a lid.
Opuntia: generic name that comes from the Greek used by Pliny the Elder for a plant that grew around the city of Opus in Greece.
echios: epithet that comes from the Greek and means "head of hairy snake". Presumably, because of the similarity of the dense head of thorns with a snake with thin to thick bristly hairs.
Tags: The Prickly Pear Cactus flower flor cactus santuário Charles Darwin Research Station Estação Científica Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Foundation the Galápagos Conservancy wildlife reserve captive breeding program paths arid-zone vegetation Galápagos giants Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Island Ilha de Santa Cruz Isla Santa Cruz The Holy Cross The Holy Cross Island Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) Puerto Ayora Ilhas do Arquipélagos das Galápagos Indefatigable Infatigável Incansável HMS Indefatigable The Galápagos Islands las Galápagos Archipiélago de Cólon Las Islas Galápagos archipelago el océano Pacífico o oceano Pacífico The Pacific Ocean the Galápagos Marine Reserve Galápagos National Park el Parque Nacional de Galápagos biosphere reserve Charles Darwin The Origin of Species UNESCO World Heritage Site Equador Ecuador ilha island isla arquipélago
Paths leading through arid-zone vegetation take you past tortoise enclosures, where you can look at these Galápagos giants.
Just northeast of Puerto Ayora is this iconic national-park site, where over 200 scientists and volunteers are involved with research and conservation efforts, the most well known of which involves a captive breeding program for giant tortoises. Paths leading through arid-zone vegetation take you past tortoise enclosures, where you can look at these Galápagos giants. There's also a baby-tortoise house with incubators (when the tortoises weigh about 1.5kg or are about four years old, they’re repatriated to their home islands).
Several of the 11 remaining subspecies of tortoise can be seen here. Other attractions include a small enclosure containing several land iguanas, with explanations in Spanish and English concerning efforts to restore their populations on islands where they’ve been pushed to the brink of extinction. Follow paths through arid-zone vegetation such as saltbush, mangroves and prickly pear, and see a variety of land birds, including Darwin's finches. The research station is supported by contributions to the Galápagos Conservancy (www.galapagos.org).
Tags: las tortugas gigantes de Galápagos santuário Chelonoidis nigra complex Chelonoidis Giant tortoises tortuga gigante Tartaruga Gigantes the Galápagos Giant Tortoise the Galápagos tortoise complex the Galápagos giant tortoise complex tartaruga-das-Galápagos tartaruga-gigante-de-Galápagos reptilia réptil Testudinata Testudinidae tortugas terrestres tortugas tartarugas tortoise Charles Darwin Research Station Estação Científica Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Foundation the Galápagos Conservancy wildlife reserve captive breeding program paths arid-zone vegetation Galápagos giants Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Island Ilha de Santa Cruz Isla Santa Cruz The Holy Cross The Holy Cross Island Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) Puerto Ayora Ilhas do Arquipélagos das Galápagos Indefatigable Infatigável Incansável HMS Indefatigable The Galápagos Islands las Galápagos Archipiélago de Cólon Las Islas Galápagos archipelago el océano Pacífico o oceano Pacífico The Pacific Ocean the Galápagos Marine Reserve Galápagos National Park el Parque Nacional de Galápagos biosphere reserve Charles Darwin The Origin of Species UNESCO World Heritage Site Equador Ecuador ilha island isla arquipélago
The tortoises are herbivores that consume a diet of cacti, grasses, leaves, lichens, berries, melons, oranges, and milkweed. They have been documented feeding on Hippomane mancinella ('poison apple'), the endemic guava Psidium galapageium, the water fern Azolla microphylla, and the bromeliad Tillandsia insularis. Juvenile tortoises eat an average of 16.7% of their own body weight in dry matter per day, with a digestive efficiency roughly equal to that of hindgut-fermenting herbivorous mammals such as horses and rhinos.
Tortoises acquire most of their moisture from the dew and sap in vegetation (particularly the Opuntia cactus); therefore, they can survive longer than 6 months without water. They can endure up to a year when deprived of all food and water, surviving by breaking down their body fat to produce water as a byproduct. Tortoises also have very slow metabolisms. When thirsty, they may drink large quantities of water very quickly, storing it in their bladders and the "root of the neck" (the pericardium), both of which served to make them useful water sources on ships. On arid islands, tortoises lick morning dew from boulders, and the repeated action over many generations has formed half-sphere depressions in the rock.
Tags: las tortugas gigantes de Galápagos santuário Chelonoidis nigra complex Chelonoidis Giant tortoises tortuga gigante Tartaruga Gigantes the Galápagos Giant Tortoise the Galápagos tortoise complex the Galápagos giant tortoise complex tartaruga-das-Galápagos tartaruga-gigante-de-Galápagos reptilia réptil Testudinata Testudinidae tortugas terrestres tortugas tartarugas tortoise Charles Darwin Research Station Estação Científica Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Foundation the Galápagos Conservancy wildlife reserve captive breeding program paths arid-zone vegetation Galápagos giants Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Island Ilha de Santa Cruz Isla Santa Cruz The Holy Cross The Holy Cross Island Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) Puerto Ayora Ilhas do Arquipélagos das Galápagos Indefatigable Infatigável Incansável HMS Indefatigable The Galápagos Islands las Galápagos Archipiélago de Cólon Las Islas Galápagos archipelago el océano Pacífico o oceano Pacífico The Pacific Ocean the Galápagos Marine Reserve Galápagos National Park el Parque Nacional de Galápagos biosphere reserve Charles Darwin The Origin of Species UNESCO World Heritage Site Equador Ecuador ilha island isla arquipélago Animals
The Galápagos tortoise complex or Galápagos giant tortoise complex (Chelonoidis nigra and related species) are the largest living species of tortoise. Modern Galápagos tortoises can weigh up to 417 kg (919 lb). Today, giant tortoises exist on only two remote archipelagos: the Galápagos Islands 1000 km due west of mainland Ecuador; and Aldabrachelys gigantea of Aldabra in the Indian Ocean, 700 km east of Tanzania.
The Galápagos tortoises are native to seven of the Galápagos Islands, a volcanic archipelago about 1,000 km (620 mi) west of the Ecuadorian mainland. With lifespans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates. A captive individual lived at least 170 years. Spanish explorers, who discovered the islands in the 16th century, named them after the Spanish galápago, meaning "tortoise".
Shell size and shape vary between populations. On islands with humid highlands, the tortoises are larger, with domed shells and short necks; on islands with dry lowlands, the tortoises are smaller, with "saddleback" shells and long necks. Charles Darwin's observations of these differences on the second voyage of the Beagle in 1835, contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.
The tortoises have a large bony shell of a dull brown or grey color. The plates of the shell are fused with the ribs in a rigid protective structure that is integral to the skeleton. Lichens can grow on the shells of these slow-moving animals. Tortoises keep a characteristic scute (shell segment) pattern on their shells throughout life, though the annual growth bands are not useful for determining age because the outer layers are worn off with time. A tortoise can withdraw its head, neck, and fore limbs into its shell for protection. The legs are large and stumpy, with dry, scaly skin and hard scales. The front legs have five claws, the back legs four.
Tags: las tortugas gigantes de Galápagos santuário Chelonoidis nigra complex Chelonoidis Giant tortoises tortuga gigante Tartaruga Gigantes the Galápagos Giant Tortoise the Galápagos tortoise complex the Galápagos giant tortoise complex tartaruga-das-Galápagos tartaruga-gigante-de-Galápagos reptilia réptil Testudinata Testudinidae tortugas terrestres tortugas tartarugas tortoise Charles Darwin Research Station Estação Científica Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Foundation the Galápagos Conservancy wildlife reserve captive breeding program paths arid-zone vegetation Galápagos giants Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Island Ilha de Santa Cruz Isla Santa Cruz The Holy Cross The Holy Cross Island Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) Puerto Ayora Ilhas do Arquipélagos das Galápagos Indefatigable Infatigável Incansável HMS Indefatigable The Galápagos Islands las Galápagos Archipiélago de Cólon Las Islas Galápagos archipelago el océano Pacífico o oceano Pacífico The Pacific Ocean the Galápagos Marine Reserve Galápagos National Park el Parque Nacional de Galápagos biosphere reserve Charles Darwin The Origin of Species UNESCO World Heritage Site Equador Ecuador ilha island isla arquipélago Animals
Opuntia echios is a species of plant in the family Cactaceae. It is endemic to the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) and is commonly known as the Galápagos prickly pear, but there are five other species of prickly pears that also are endemic to the archipelago (O. galapageia, O. helleri, O. insularis, O. megasperma, and O. saxicola).
Opuntia echios var. zacana is a small variety
There are five varieties of Opuntia echios, each with a different appearance and distribution: Opuntia echios var. echios on the islands of Santa Cruz, Baltra, Daphne Major and South Plaza, Opuntia echios var. barringtonensis on Santa Fe, Opuntia echios var. gigantea near Academy Bay on Santa Cruz, Opuntia echios var. inermis on the Sierra Negra Volcano on Isabela and Opuntia echios var. zacana on North Seymour.
It is a cactus that grows with arched branches that reaches a size of 1 and 10 meters high. It is initially prickly, then covered with reddish sheets it is usually pronounced and reaches a diameter of up to one meter. The yellow-green stem with blue-green segments that are round, obovate or oblong and measure 25 to 45 centimeters long, 17 to 32 cm wide and 1 to 2.4 centimeters thick. The areolas with a diameter of 2 to 6 mm, 13 to 30 cm away, gloquidia absent or there are only a few available. With 2 to 20 (or more) spines in a vertical position, rigid, which are initially yellow and then brown, 1.2 to 12 cm long. The flowers are yellow are 8 to 12 cm long and can reach diameters between 5 and 7 centimeters. The fruits are green to brown, shaped like a lid.
Tags: santuário Charles Darwin Research Station Estação Científica Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Foundation the Galápagos Conservancy wildlife reserve captive breeding program paths arid-zone vegetation Galápagos giants Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Island Ilha de Santa Cruz Isla Santa Cruz The Holy Cross The Holy Cross Island Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos) Puerto Ayora Ilhas do Arquipélagos das Galápagos Indefatigable Infatigável Incansável HMS Indefatigable The Galápagos Islands las Galápagos Archipiélago de Cólon Las Islas Galápagos archipelago el océano Pacífico o oceano Pacífico The Pacific Ocean the Galápagos Marine Reserve Galápagos National Park el Parque Nacional de Galápagos biosphere reserve Charles Darwin The Origin of Species UNESCO World Heritage Site Equador Ecuador ilha island isla arquipélago The Galápagos Prickly Pear Opuntia echios Cactaceae Opuntia echios var. gigantea Howell tuna gigante