The giant tortoises of the Galapagos are currently undergoing a long-term restoration effort to combat decades of predation by non-natives.
Credit: Corel
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The desolate island of Bartolome is one of the youngest and most visited in the archipelago. The island features an extinct volcano and a variety of lava formations, including Pinnacle Rock, the signature of the Galapagos landscape.
Credit: Corel
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Because they evolved without any natural predators, marine iguanas and the rest of Galapagos' wildlife are unafraid of humans, and will let visitors get as close as they wish.
Credit: Weststock
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The frigatebird's courtship ritual is one of the most striking of all bird displays: the male seabird attracts a female by inflating its bright red pouch under its throat and emphasizing its massive wingspan.
Credit: Photodisc
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Of the 560 native species of plants on the islands, nearly one-third are endemic. From the daisy tree to the candelabra cactus, these 'pioneer species' are tough, hardy plants found nowhere else in the world.
Credit: Corel
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Charles Darwin arrived in the Galapagos on the HMS Beagle in 1835 and spent five weeks collecting specimens. The observations he collected from the islands spurred his theory of natural selection.
Credit: Corel
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The blue-footed booby is named from the Spanish word bobo, meaning clown, for its strange habits and colorful webbed feet. The red-footed and masked boobies, totaling three of the Earth's six species of boobies, also inhabit the islands.
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