Charles Darwin was a passenger on the HMS Beagle from 1832 to 1836, which had been chartered to survey the South American coast. Captain Robert
FitzRoy had seen the need for a geologist during HMS Beagle’s second survey of the South American coast. It was Charles Darwin who was eventually suggested to accompany Fitzroy on this voyage. The Beagle reached the Galapagos Islands on 15 September 1835, nearly four years after setting off from Plymouth, England. The visit to the Galapagos would prove the starting point from which Darwin would develop his theories on evolution and secure his enduring fame. Like many
visitors to the Islands before him, Darwin considered them bleak and ugly. Darwin had 34 days to collect species and record observations around the Islands. Painting of HMS Beagle by R.T. Pritchett in 1900 Although he was employed as a geologist, Darwin had also been an avid collector of fossils, animals and plants during his voyage and took extensive notes on all he observed. He described the natural history of Galapagos as “ very remarkable: it seems to be a little world within itself; the greater number of its inhabitants, both vegetable and animal, being found nowhere else.” Darwin travelled around the Galapagos Islands for 5 weeks visiting:
You can find out more about the voyage of the HMS Beagle here. Charles Darwin’s scientific career began humbly. In 1831, and in the teeth of a gale, the HMS Beagle, a British warship, left Devonport, England, for an expedition to map the South American coastline and to carry out chronometer surveys all over the globe. Darwin embarked as a naturalist, although he had no formal training and had recently left Cambridge University because he grew disinterested in his studies. But he was a very sharp observer of the natural world, and he lived at a time when a revolution in thinking was going on. Scientists were feverishly re-examining age-old questions, such as how old was the Earth? How did various features of the planet form? How old and diverse was Earth’s animal life? Darwin was also fortunate that the Beagle took him to the Galapagos Islands, where he observed various animals and birds that had evolved in an isolated environment. His observations led him to his famous theory of natural selection. According to Darwin’s theory, variations within species occur randomly and the survival or extinction of an organism is determined by its ability to adapt to its environment. (Another young naturalist of the time, Alfred Russell Wallace, had independently come to similar conclusions about evolution and natural selection.) Darwin also made important observations about the geology of the islands and coastlines he visited. He proposed a theory about the formation of atolls. Atolls are coral reefs that form small islands that enclose a lagoon. They are found mostly in the Pacific. An example is Bikini Atoll located northwest of Hawaii. Darwin proposed that the foundation for the atoll was a volcano that was sinking because of its weight. As the volcano sinks, coral reefs that rim the volcano grow upwards. As long as the rate at which corals grow kept up with how fast the island was sinking, then small coral islands would remain in a ring around the now sunken volcano. Recommended textbook solutions Human Resource Management15th EditionJohn David Jackson, Patricia Meglich, Robert Mathis, Sean Valentine 249 solutions
Hole's Human Anatomy and Physiology15th EditionDavid Shier, Jackie Butler, Ricki Lewis 1,949 solutions Biology1st EditionKenneth R. Miller, Levine 2,591 solutions Clinical Reasoning Cases in Nursing7th EditionJulie S Snyder, Mariann M Harding 2,512 solutions What did Darwin observe during his voyage on the Beagle?One key observation Darwin made occurred while he was studying the specimens from the Galapagos Islands. He noticed the finches on the island were similar to the finches from the mainland, but each showed certain characteristics that helped them to gather food more easily in their specific habitat.
What were Darwin's observations on the Galapagos Islands?In Galapagos he found a remarkable population of plants, birds and reptiles that had developed in isolation from the mainland, but often differed on almost identical islands next door to one another and whose characteristics he could only explain by a gradual transformation of the various species.
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Describe Darwins observations on the Galapagos islands during his voyage on the HMS Beagle
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