1. The booby family is thought to get its name from the Spanish ‘bobo’, meaning stupid, because of their clumsy nature .

From each bird, we collected two 50 μl blood samples via venipuncture of the brachial vein for genetic analyses. Galapagos hawk juveniles are captured play-fighting in mid-air – one of them gripping the other’s tail feathers. Another image shows a Nazca booby, a type of bird, biting at a vampire ground finch which had been feeding on its blood - a habit which gives it its name.

Hawk lands on top of a couple of mating giant tortoises in gallery of images showing Galapagos Islands’ incredible wildlife.

Galapagos Hawk's Evolutionary History Illuminated Date: October 5, 2007 Source: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Summary: Scientists used DNA sequences from … The adult Galapagos hawk is generally a sooty brownish-black color; the crown being slightly blacker than the back. (c) Blood collection.

Darwin’s finches are a clade of 19 species of passerine birds native to the Galápagos Islands, dietary choices ranging from seeds to blood make them a classic example of adaptive radiation.

Today, around 15 finch species are found on different islands in the Galapagos, but Darwin realised that in the past only species of finch must have originally arrived at the Galapagos.

A finch that drinks blood Vampire finch on Wolf Island, (c) Godfrey Merlin There are 13 species of Darwin’s famed finches in the Galapagos.

A pair of mating giant tortoises were interrupted by a hawk landing on one of their shells – in one of a series of beautiful photos showing the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. Samples were immediately stored in 500 μl of lysis buffer (Longmire et al. Blood parameters did not differ between males and females, except for aspartate transaminase values, which were significantly higher in females than males. Here are just a few examples of astounding adaptations in Galapagos animals that have served them well. The giant tortoises, who were made famous by Charles Darwin’s encounters with them during his … A Nazca booby – a type of bird – bites at a vampire ground finch which was feeding on its blood – a habit which gives it its name. A pair of mating giant tortoises were interrupted by a hawk landing on one of their shells - in one of a series of beautiful photos showing the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. Their tail coverts are also barred with white. A Galápagos hawk is shown nesting on Isla Fernandina, Galapagos. The process has given rise to every species that has ever lived. Its feathers of the mantle are partially edged with paler brown, grey, or buff, with their white bases showing to some extent. Galapagos … 1988).For immune assay, whole blood samples were collected from a subsample of birds (n=46) in heparinized tubes, centrifuged in the field and plasma was stored in liquid nitrogen. A pair of mating giant tortoises were interrupted by a hawk landing on one of their shells – in one of a series of beautiful photos showing the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. The collection includes several images of the Galapagos hawks, including one where the bird is feeding a hatchling turtle to one of its chicks.

The giant tortoises made famous by Charles Darwin’s observations of them can live for more than 100 years; Two of the tortoises were interrupted by a Galapagos hawk, a native bird which feeds on snakes and lizards