Galápagos Islands

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• A group of volcanic islands lying along the equator in the Pacific Ocean west of the mainland of Ecuador. The islands are famous for their rare animal species, including the giant tortoises for which they are named. Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1835 and collected a wealth of scientific data that contributed to his theory of natural selection. Tourism is now regulated to protect the islands' many endemic and endangered species.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• proper noun An archipelago off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean, home to many endemic species.