Five to ten million years ago, the tops of underwater Galapagos volcanoes appeared above water for the first time about 600 km from mainland Ecuador in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Those volcanic peaks were completely devoid of plant and animal life. All plants and animals that are now native to the islands must have arrived to the islands originally through some form of long-distance dispersal.There are two main ways for species to make their way to remote islands. The first method is by air in the form of flying or being blown by wind, and the second method is by sea while swimming or floating, sometimes with the aid of rafts of tangled vegetation.
