The Revillagigedo Islands (or Revillagigedo Archipelago), not to be confused with Revillagigedo Island of Alaska, are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean at approximately 18° N 112° W. They are part of Manzanillo municipality of the Mexican state of Colima and lie 386 km southwest of Cabo San Lucas, the southern tip of Baja California peninsula, and between 720 and 970 km west of Manzanillo. The total area is 169 km². There is a naval station in the south of Socorro Island, with a population of 250 (staff and families). On Clarión, there is a small naval garrison with 9 men. Other than that, the islands are uninhabited. The islands are named after Count Revilla Gigedo the son, the 53rd viceroy of New Spain. Revillagigedo Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago, in southeast Alaska. ... State nickname: The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun Other U.S. States Capital Juneau Largest city Anchorage Governor Frank Murkowski (R) Official languages English Area 1,067,653 mi² / 1,717,854 km² (1st)  - Land 1,481,347 km²  - Water 236,507 km² (13. ... Manzanillo is a city in the state of Colima, Mexico, located at 18. ... The Mexican state of Colima is divided into ten municipalities (municipios): Categories: Lists of municipalities of Mexico | Mexican states ... The United Mexican States (Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico) comprises 31 states (estados) and one federal district (Distrito Federal), which contains the capital, Mexico City. ... Other Mexican States Capital Colima, Col. ... Cabo San Lucas is a small city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula at 22. ... Baja California (highlighted) Alternative use: Baja California (state) Baja California or Lower California is a peninsula in the west of Mexico. ... Manzanillo is a city in the state of Colima, Mexico, located at 18. ... Socorro Island (Spanish: Isla Socorro) is a volcanic island in the Revillagigedo Islands, a Mexican possession laying off that countrys western coast. ... Isla Clarión, formerly called Santa Rosa, is the second largest, westernmost and most remote of the Revillagigedo Islands, 314 km west of Socorro Island, at 18°21N, 114°44S. The island is 8. ... Two Counts of Revilla Gigedo served as Viceroys of New Spain: 1. ... Flag of New Spain New Spain (Spanish: Nueva España) was the name given to viceroy-ruled colonial territories of the Spanish Empire from 1525 to 1821. ...

The Revillagigedo Islands consist of four volcanic islands (from East to West):

1. San Benedicto (San Tomás) , 4.8 km by 2.4 km, area 10 km², height 310 m (Bárcena)
2. Socorro, 16.5 by 11.5 km, area 132 km², height 1130 m (Mount Evermann or Cerro Evermann)
3. Roca Partida, 91 m by 45 m, area 0.003 km², height 34 m
4. Clarión (Santa Rosa), 8.5 km by 3.5 km, area 27 km², height 335 m (Monte Gallegos)

The island chain stretches 250 km east-west. The three eastern islands are called the inner islands, while Clarión is comparatively far to the west, by more than 200 km. Socorro Island (Spanish: Isla Socorro) is a volcanic island in the Revillagigedo Islands, a Mexican possession laying off that countrys western coast. ... Isla Clarión, formerly called Santa Rosa, is the second largest, westernmost and most remote of the Revillagigedo Islands, 314 km west of Socorro Island, at 18°21N, 114°44S. The island is 8. ...

History

No evidence of human habitation on the Revillagigedo Islands exists before its discovery by Spanish explorers. Hernando de Grijalva and his crew discovered an uninhabited island on December 21, 1533 and named it "Santo Tomé" (Spanish, "Saint Thomas"). Four days later he discovered another, which he named "Inocentes" ("Innocents"). December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ...

In 1542, Ruy González de Villalobos, while exploring new routes across the Pacific, rediscovered "Inocentes" and changed its name to "Anublada" ("Cloudy"). In 1608, Martín Yañez de Armida, in charge of another expedition, visited Santo Tomé and changed its name to "Socorro" ("Help"). The other two islands were discovered in 1779 by José Camacho. He named the small rocky islet in the middle of the Archipelago "Roca Partida" ("Broken Rock"), and the westernmost island "Santa Rosa" ("Saint Rose"). Santa Rosa was later renamed Clarión ("Clarion").

The Revillagigedo Islands have been visited by a number of other explorers: Domingo del Castillo (1541), Miguel Pinto (1772), Alexander von Humboldt (1811), Benjamín Norell (1825), Sir Edward Belcher (1839) who made the first botanical collections, and Reeve (1848) who witnessed the eruption of Mount Evermann. In 1865, the island was explored by ornithologist Andrew Jackson Grayson, who described the Socorro Dove and Socorro Elf Owl. Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, Baron von Humboldt, (September 14, 1769, Berlin–May 6, 1859, Berlin), was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt. ... Sir Edward Belcher (1799 - March 18, 1877) was a British naval officer. ... Andrew Jackson Grayson (1819 - 1869) was an American ornithologist and artist. ... Binomial name Zenaida graysoni Lawrence, 1871 The Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni) is a dove that is extinct in the wild. ...

On 25 July 1861, President Benito Juárez signed a decree awarding territorial control over the four islands to the state of Colima. His plan was to build an offshore penitentiary on Isla Socorro; although this never happened, the decree whereby they were attached to Colima has never been repealed. July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Seal of the Office of the President of Mexico The President of United Mexican States is the head of state of Mexico. ... Benito Juárez Benito Juárez (March 21, 1806 – July 18, 1872) was a Zapotec Amerindian who served two terms (1861-1863 and 1867-1872) as President of Mexico. ... Other Mexican States Capital Colima, Col. ...

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Dr. Barton Warren Evermann, director of the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California, promoted the scientific exploration of the islands. The most comprehensive biological collections were obtained at this time. The volcano on Isla Socorro was renamed in his honor. The California Academy of Sciences is one of the ten largest natural history museums in the world. ... The downtown San Francisco skyline, looking east from the central part of the city. ...

In 1957 the Mexican Navy established a naval base on Socorro, and have had a permanent presence on the island since then. On 21 March 1972, Pablo Silva García became the first governor of Colima to visit his state's island territories. A plaque was unveiled to mark the event and cement Colima's claim. March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

Ecology

The Revillagigedo Islands are home to many endemic plant and animal species, and are sometimes called Mexico's "little Galapagos". They are recognized as a distinct terrestrial ecoregion, part of the Neotropic ecozone. Socorro is the most diverse in flora, fauna, and topography. The Mexican Government established the islands as a Biosphere Reserve on June 4, 1994. This article is about the ecological meaning of endemic. See also endemic (epidemiology). ... Orthographic projection centred over the Galapagos For the novel Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut, see: Galápagos (book) The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of some 13 volcanic islands and associated islets and rocks located in the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 kilometers west of the coast of South America. ... Ecoregions are defined by World Wildlife Fund as relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major land-use change. Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater ecoregions... The Neotropic ecozone is a terrestrial ecoregion which includes South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ... Ecozone is a classification system of the world first proposed by Miklos Udvardy under the name biogeographical realms for conservation purposes. ...

The unique ecology of the islands is under threat from exotic species. Sheep were introduced to Socorro in 1869. Several endemic species are now threatened with extinction. The Socorro Mockingbird, (Mimodes graysoni) numbers less than 400 individuals. The endemic Socorro Parakeet, (Aratinga brevipes), the Socorro subspecies of the Elf Owl (Micrathene whitneyi graysoni), and Townsend's Shearwater (Puffinus auricularis), are also endangered. The Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni) is now extinct in the wild, but is being bred in captivity. Binomial name Mimodes graysoni Lawrence, 1871 The Socorro Mockingbird, Mimodes graysoni, is an endangered mockingbird endemic to Socorro in the Revillagigedo Islands. ...

Several organizations are dedicated to halting the destruction of the native ecosystems of the islands. Dr. Harmunt Walter of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Dr. Luis F. Baptista of the California Academy of Sciences have coordinated breeding and reintroduction efforts for the Socorro Dove since 1988, through the Island Endemics Institute. The Comite Cientifico para la Conservacion y Restauracion del Archipielago Revillagigedo (Scientific Committee for the Conservation and Restoration of the Revillagigedo Islands) was founded in 1996, and is a committee representing several organizations, including the Island Conservation & Ecology Group, Island Endemics Institute, the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and others. It is chaired by Dr. Walter and Dr. Luis Medrano of UNAM is its secretary. The committee has been advocating removal of the exotic species from the islands, especially the estimated 2000 sheep on Socorro, to allow the islands' ecology to recover, and adoption of a management plan to promote the recovery of the islands' native species, including reintroduction of the Socorro Dove. The University of California, Los Angeles, popularly known as UCLA, is a public, coeducational university situated in the neighborhood of Westwood within the city of Los Angeles. ... The California Academy of Sciences is one of the ten largest natural history museums in the world. ... The University of Missouri-St. ... The National Autonomous University of Mexico (Spanish: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, commonly abbreviated as UNAM) was founded in 1551, making it one of the oldest in America. ...

External links

Socorro Island: Conserving and Restoring Mexico's Little Galapagos (UCLA website)

Island Endemics Institute

Revillagigedo Archipelago Web ring (UMSL)