Mystery #2Tier 2island evolution

Why are the strangest, most unique animals often found on faraway islands?

Sail out to a lonely island in the middle of the ocean and you might meet creatures that live there and absolutely nowhere else on Earth: giant tortoises, birds that cannot fly, lizards found on no other shore. The crowded mainland has nothing quite like them. So why do the world's oddest, most one-of-a-kind animals turn up on far-flung islands?

Close-up of a Galapagos giant tortoise stretching its long wrinkled neck, a species found on those islands and nowhere else on Earth — Photo: E bailey · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Your guess

Faraway islands are full of animals seen nowhere else on the planet. Why do you think these special places grow such unusual creatures?

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