Socorro Island ( es, Isla Socorro) is a small
volcanic island
Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
in the
Revillagigedo Islands
The Revillagigedo Islands ( es, Islas Revillagigedo, ) or Revillagigedo Archipelago are a group of four volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, known for their unique ecosystem. They lie approximately from Socorro Island south and southwest of C ...
, a
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
possession lying off the country's western coast. The size is 16.5 by 11.5 km (10.25 by 7.15 miles), with an area of . It is the largest of the four islands of the Revillagigedo Archipelago. The last eruption was in 1993.
Geology
The island rises abruptly from the sea to in elevation at its summit. Socorro Island is the emerged summit of a massive, predominately submarine
shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...
.
The island is part of the northern Mathematicians Ridge, a
mid-ocean ridge
A mid-ocean ridge (MOR) is a seafloor mountain system formed by plate tectonics. It typically has a depth of about and rises about above the deepest portion of an ocean basin. This feature is where seafloor spreading takes place along a diverge ...
that became largely inactive 3.5 million years ago when activity moved to the
East Pacific Rise
The East Pacific Rise is a mid-ocean rise (termed an oceanic rise and not a mid-ocean ridge due to its higher rate of spreading that results in less elevation increase and more regular terrain), a divergent tectonic plate boundary located along ...
. All four islands along with the many
seamount
A seamount is a large geologic landform that rises from the ocean floor that does not reach to the water's surface (sea level), and thus is not an island, islet or cliff-rock. Seamounts are typically formed from extinct volcanoes that rise abru ...
s on the ridge are post-abandonment alkaline volcanoes. Socorro Island is unusual in that it is the only dominantly
silicic
Silicic is an adjective to describe magma or igneous rock rich in silica. The amount of silica that constitutes a silicic rock is usually defined as at least 63 percent. Granite and rhyolite are the most common silicic rocks.
Silicic is the group ...
peralkaline
Peralkaline rocks include those igneous rocks which have a deficiency of aluminium such that sodium and potassium are in excess of that needed for feldspar. The presence of aegerine (sodium pyroxene) and riebeckite (sodium amphibole) are indicati ...
volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean.
It most recently erupted in late Januaryearly February, 1993, which was a submarine flank eruption off the coast from Punta Tosca. An earlier eruption was on May 21, 1951; earlier eruptions probably occurred in 1905, 1896 and 1848. The initial volcanic event probably occurred in 3090 BC +/- 500 years. Mount Evermann (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
: ''Cerro Evermann'') is the name given to the summit dome complex, in honor of
ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...
Barton Warren Evermann
Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist.
Early life and education
Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...
. The island's surface is broken by furrows, small craters, and numerous ravines, and covered in
lava dome
In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions on ...
s,
lava flow
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...
s and
cinder cone
A cinder cone (or scoria cone) is a steep conical hill of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic clinkers, volcanic ash, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions o ...
s.
[
There is a naval station, established in 1957, with a population of 250 (staff and families), living in a village with a church, that stands on the western side of Bahia Vargas Lozano, a small cove with a rocky beach, about 800 meters east of Cabo Regla, the southernmost point of the island. The station is served by a dock, a local helipad and Isla Socorro airport, located six kilometers to the north. There is a fresh water spring about 5 km northwest of Cabo Regla, at the shoreline of Ensenada Grayson (or Caleta Grayson), an inlet. This is ]brackish
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
and sometimes covered by the sea at high tide. In the 1950s, a small freshwater seep was known to exist some inland at Bahia Lucio Gallardo Pavon (Binner's Cove), 800 meters NW of the naval station.[
]
History
No evidence of human habitation on Socorro exists before its discovery by Spanish explorer and his crew on 19 December 1533, who named it ''Santo Tomás''. In 1542, Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos (; ca. 1500 – April 4, 1546) was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal a ...
, while exploring new routes across the Pacific, rediscovered ''Inocentes'' and renamed it ''Isla Anublada'' ("Cloudy Island") due to the clouds frequently forming on the northern slopes of Mount Evermann, and again in 1608, Martín Yañez de Armida Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austr ...
, in charge of another expedition, visited ''Santo Tomás'' and changed its name to ''Isla Socorro'' after Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succour) is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a 15th-century Byzantine icon with an alleged Marian apparition. The icon is believed to have o ...
(''Virgen del Perpetuo Socorro'').
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Barton Warren Evermann
Barton Warren Evermann (October 24, 1853 – September 27, 1932) was an American ichthyologist.
Early life and education
Evermann was born in Monroe County, Iowa in 1853. His family moved to Indiana while he was still a child and it was ...
, director of the California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...
in San Francisco promoted the scientific exploration of the island. The most comprehensive biological collections were obtained at this time. The volcano on Socorro was renamed in his honor.
Archie Smith, an American laborer from San Diego, was marooned on the island for one month in 1929 before being rescued by a passing fishing boat. This was because the expedition that brought him to the island to shear wild sheep, returned to port for supplies, but went bankrupt and could not return.
In September 1997, Hurricane Linda passed near the island near peak intensity causing minor damage to meteorological instruments in the island.
Ecology
The lowlands of Socorro – except on the northern, more humid
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depen ...
side – are covered with thick shrubland, consisting mainly of endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
''Croton masonii
Croton may refer to:
Biology
*Crotoneae, a tribe of the flowering plant subfamily Crotonoideae
* ''Croton'' (plant), a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae
**''Croton capitatus'', also known as the woolly croton
**''Croton hancei'', a species ...
'' and a cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek ...
, probably Engelmann's prickly pear
''Opuntia engelmannii'' is a prickly pear common across the south-central and Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It goes by a variety of common names, including desert prickly pear, discus prickly pear, Engelmann's prickly pear in ...
(''Opuntia engelmannii''). Above and on the northern side, a richer vegetation occurs. This includes small trees such as ''Ficus
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending in ...
cotinifolia'', black cherry
''Prunus serotina'', commonly called black cherry,World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a deciduous tree or shrub of the g ...
(''Prunus serotina''[Probably ssp. ''capuli'' according to ]biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...
, Brattstrom & Howell (1956) ''contra'' CMICD (2007)), and the endemic ''Guettarda
''Guettarda'' is a plant genus in the family Rubiaceae. Most of these plants are known by the common name velvetseed. Estimates of the number of species range from about 50 Anthony J. Huxley, Mark Griffiths, and Margot Levy (editors). 1992. ''The ...
insularis'', which bear epiphytic
An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphytes grow are called phoroph ...
orchid
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
s (''Epidendrum
''Epidendrum'' , abbreviated Epi in the horticultural trade, is a large neotropical genus of the orchid family. With more than 1,500 species, some authors describe it as a mega-genus. The genus name (from Greek ''επί, epi'' and ''δένδρο ...
nitens'', '' E. rigidum'' and the endemic ''Pleurothallis
''Pleurothallis'' is a genus of orchids commonly called bonnet orchids. The genus name is derived from the Greek word , meaning "riblike branches". This refers to the rib-like stems of many species. The genus is often abbreviated as "Pths" in hor ...
unguicallosa'').
The native land fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
is depauperate
A depauperate ecosystem is an ecosystem which is lacking in numbers or variety of species, often because it lacks enough stored chemical elements and resources required for life. Thus, depauperate ecosystems often cannot support rapid growth of f ...
, with birds predominating and mammals absent. There is one endemic species of iguanid
The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana.
Taxonomy
Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphy ...
lizard (''Urosaurus
''Urosaurus'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as tree lizards or brush lizards, belonging to the New World family Phrynosomatidae.
Description
Species in the genus ''Urosaurus'' can be distinguished from members of the genus '' Sceloporu ...
auriculatus'') and the land crab
A number of lineages of crabs have evolved to live predominantly on land. Examples of terrestrial crabs are found in the families Gecarcinidae and Gecarcinucidae, as well as in selected genera from other families, such as ''Sesarma'', althou ...
'' Johngarthia oceanica'' which also occurs on Clipperton Island
Clipperton Island ( or ; ) is an uninhabited, coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is from Paris, France, from Papeete, Tahiti, and from Mexico. It is an Overseas France, overseas state private property of France under direct authori ...
.
Sheep, cats and rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s were introduced to the island by human activity; more recently, the locust
Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...
''Schistocerca piceifrons
''Schistocerca piceifrons'' is a large locust in the subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae: Acrididae. There are two subspecies. ''S. p. piceifrons'' is sometimes called the Central American Locust and ''S. p. peruviana'' is sometimes known as the Peru ...
'' has also established itself on the island.[ Unlike the mammals on ]Guadalupe Island
Guadalupe Island ( es, Isla Guadalupe, link=no) is a volcanic island located off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and about southwest of the city of Ensenada in the state of Baja California, in the Pacific Ocean. The ...
or Clarión, their impact on the local flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
was minor, but cat predation has had a drastic effect since the mid-1970s due to the fauna's island tameness
Island tameness is the tendency of many populations and species of animals living on isolated islands to lose their wariness of potential predators, particularly of large animals. The term is partly synonymous with ecological naïveté, which also ...
,[ and the locusts that swarm twice a year seriously damage vegetation during that time. There have been no recorded ]extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
ions of plants on Socorro; several birds have been drastically affected by cat predation however, and one taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
, the Socorro dove, has gone extinct in the wild.
Socorro is an important breeding location for several seabird
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same enviro ...
s, many of which have here one of their north(east)ernmost breeding colonies. The present status of these birds is not well known, and they presumably have suffered from cat predation. In 1953, the following taxa were present:
* Wedge-tailed shearwater
The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...
, ''Puffinus pacificus'' (or ''Ardenna pacifica'')
* Western red-billed tropicbird
The red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') is a tropicbird, one of three closely related species of seabird of tropical oceans. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it has mostly white plumage with some black markings on the wi ...
, ''Phaethon aethereus mesonauta'' – breeding suspected but not verified
* Nazca booby
The Nazca booby (''Sula granti'') is a large seabird of the booby family, Sulidae, native to the eastern Pacific. First described by Walter Rothschild, 2nd Baron Rothschild, Walter Rothschild in 1902, it was long considered a subspecies of the ma ...
, ''Sula granti'' – breeding suspected but not verified
* Northeast Pacific brown booby
The brown booby (''Sula leucogaster'') is a large seabird of the booby family Sulidae, of which it is perhaps the most common and widespread species. It has a pantropical range, which overlaps with that of other booby species. The gregarious brow ...
, ''Sula leucogaster brewsteri'' – breeding suspected but not verified
* East Pacific great frigatebird
The great frigatebird (''Fregata minor'') is a large seabird in the frigatebird family. There are major nesting populations in the tropical Pacific (including the Galapagos Islands) and Indian Oceans, as well as a tiny population in the South At ...
, ''Fregata minor ridgwayi'' – breeding suspected but not verified; a doubtfully distinct subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
* East Pacific sooty tern
The sooty tern (''Onychoprion fuscatus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. It is a bird of the tropical oceans, returning to land only to breed on islands throughout the equatorial zone.
Taxonomy
The sooty tern was described by Carl Linnaeu ...
, ''Onychoprion fuscatus crissalis'' – a doubtfully distinct subspecies
* East Pacific brown noddy
The brown noddy or common noddy (''Anous stolidus'') is a seabird in the family Laridae. The largest of the noddies, it can be told from the closely related black noddy by its larger size and plumage, which is dark brown rather than black. The b ...
, ''Anous stolidus ridgwayi''
Non-endemic landbirds and shorebird
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s occur mostly as vagrants or use the island as a stopover during migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
; the northern mockingbird
The northern mockingbird (''Mimus polyglottos'') is a mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has rarely been observed in Europe. ...
became established in the late 20th century. Among those that are recorded not infrequently are great blue heron
The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North America and Central America, as well as the Caribbean and the Galápagos ...
, Hudsonian curlew, spotted sandpiper
The spotted sandpiper (''Actitis macularius'') is a small shorebird. Together with its sister species the common sandpiper (''A. hypoleucos''), it makes up the genus ''Actitis''. They replace each other geographically; stray birds may settle do ...
and wandering tattler
The wandering tattler (''Tringa incana''; formerly ''Heteroscelus incanus'': Pereira & Baker, 2005; Banks ''et al.'', 2006), is a medium-sized wading bird. It is similar in appearance to the closely related gray-tailed tattler, ''T. brevipes''. ...
. Unlike the situation on smaller and more isolated Clarión, wind-blown or vagrant birds seem to constitute the bulk of the recorded species, including brown pelican
The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...
, osprey
The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...
, peregrine falcon
The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
, semipalmated plover
The semipalmated plover (''Charadrius semipalmatus'') is a small plover. ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. It derives from Ancient Greek ''kharadrios'' a bird found in ravines and ri ...
, willet
The willet (''Tringa semipalmata'') is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It is a relatively large and robust sandpiper, and is the largest of the species called "shanks" in the genus ''Tringa''. Its closest relative is the lesser yel ...
, sanderling
The sanderling (''Calidris alba'') is a small wading bird. The name derives from Old English ''sand-yrðling'', "sand-ploughman". The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''kalidris'' or ''skalidris'', a term used by Aristotle for some grey-colou ...
, belted kingfisher and buff-bellied pipit
The buff-bellied pipit or American pipit (''Anthus rubescens'') is a small songbird found on both sides of the northern Pacific. It was first described by Marmaduke Tunstall in his 1771 ''Ornithologia Britannica''. It was formerly classified as a ...
. It may be that this puzzling observation is due to the presence of the red-tailed hawk
The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...
s and cats, which has at least made the local ''Urosaurus
''Urosaurus'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as tree lizards or brush lizards, belonging to the New World family Phrynosomatidae.
Description
Species in the genus ''Urosaurus'' can be distinguished from members of the genus '' Sceloporu ...
'' more wary than its relative on Clarión, and might deter passing birds from stopping on Socorro.
Endemism
Being the largest of the Revillagigedo Islands and closer to mainland than Clarion
Clarion may refer to:
Music
* Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages
* The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6
* A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch
* "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...
, Socorro sports a rich array of endemic taxa
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
, mainly plants and landbirds as well as lizards. Some are threatened due to the presence of feral cats.
Animals
* Socorro parakeet, ''Aratinga brevipes'' (endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
)
* Socorro red-tailed hawk
The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...
, ''Buteo jamaicensis socorroensis''
* Socorro common ground dove
The common ground dove (''Columbina passerina'') is a small bird that inhabits the southern United States, parts of Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. It is considered to be the smallest dove that inhabits the United State ...
, ''Columbina passerina socorroensis''
* Socorro elf owl
The elf owl (''Micrathene whitneyi'') is a small grayish-brown owl about the size of a sparrow found in the Southwestern United States, central Mexico, and the Baja California peninsula. It has pale yellow eyes highlighted by thin white "eyebro ...
, ''Micrathene whitneyi graysoni'' (probably extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
since c. 1970)
* Socorro mockingbird
The Socorro mockingbird (''Mimus graysoni'') is an endangered mockingbird endemic to Socorro Island in Mexico's Revillagigedo Islands. The specific epithet commemorates the American ornithologist Andrew Jackson Grayson.
''Mimus graysoni'' show ...
, ''Mimodes graysoni'' ( critically endangered)
* Socorro yellow-crowned night heron
The yellow-crowned night heron (''Nyctanassa violacea''), is one of two species of night herons found in the Americas, the other one being the black-crowned night heron. It is known as the ''bihoreau violacé'' in French and the ''pedrete corona ...
, ''Nycticorax violaceus gravirostris'' (or ''Nyctanassa violacea gravirostris'')
* Socorro tropical parula
The tropical parula (''Setophaga pitiayumi'') is a small New World warbler. It breeds from southernmost Texas and northwest Mexico (Sonora) south through Central America to northern Argentina, including Trinidad and Tobago. This widespread and co ...
, ''Parula pitiayumi graysoni''
* Socorro towhee
The spotted towhee (''Pipilo maculatus'') is a large New World sparrow. The taxonomy of the towhees has been debated in recent decades, and until 1995 this bird and the eastern towhee were considered a single species, the rufous-sided towhee. A ...
, ''Pipilo (maculatus) socorroensis''
* Townsend's shearwater
Townsend's shearwater (''Puffinus auricularis'') is a rare seabird of the tropics from the family Procellariidae.
Taxonomy
Its relationships are unresolved. Its closest relatives are probably, but not certainly, the Hawaiian shearwater (''Puffi ...
, ''Puffinus auricularis'' (critically endangered; recently extirpated from San Benedicto and probably Clarión)
* Socorro wren
The Socorro wren (''Troglodytes sissonii'') is a species of bird in the family Troglodytidae.
It is endemic to Socorro Island, Mexico. It was formerly placed in ''Thryomanes'' but was moved to ''Troglodytes'' considering "manners, song, plumage, ...
, ''Troglodytes sissonii'' (near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
)
* Socorro dove, ''Zenaida graysoni'' (extinct in the wild
A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...
)
* '' Urosaurus auriculatus'' (endangered)
Plants
[
* '' Acalypha umbrosa''
* '' Aegopogon solisii''
* '' Aristida vaginata''
* '' Aristolochia socorroensis''
* '']Bidens socorrensis
''Bidens'' is a genus of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae.[''Bidens''.](_blank)
Flo ...
''
* ''Botrychium socorrense
''Botrychium'' is a genus of ferns, seedless vascular plants in the family Ophioglossaceae. ''Botrychium'' species are known as moonworts. They are small, with fleshy roots, and reproduce by spores shed into the air. One part of the leaf, the tr ...
''
* ''Castilleja socorrensis
''Castilleja'', commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a genus of about 200 species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the west of the Americas from Alaska south to the Andes, northern Asia, and one ...
''
* '' Cestrum pacificum''
* ''Coreocarpus insularis
''Coreocarpus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae native to northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona.
; Species
* '' Coreocarpus arizonicus'' (A.Gray) S.F.Blake Arizona ( Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise Counties), Sonora, Sina ...
''
* ''Croton masonii
Croton may refer to:
Biology
*Crotoneae, a tribe of the flowering plant subfamily Crotonoideae
* ''Croton'' (plant), a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae
**''Croton capitatus'', also known as the woolly croton
**''Croton hancei'', a species ...
''
* ''Erigeron socorrensis
''Erigeron socorrensis'' is a Mexican species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Socorro Island fleabane. It has been found only on Socorro Island in Mexico, part of the State of Colima. This is a small, volcanic ...
''
* '' Eupatorium pacificum''
* '' Guettarda insularis''
* '' Hypericum eastwoodianum''
* '' Ilex socorroensis''
* ''Lantana involucrata'' var. ''socorrensis''
* ''Lepechinia hastata'' ssp. ''socorrensis''
* '' Meliosma nesites''
* '' Paspalum longum''
* '' Peperomia socorronis''
* ''Physalis mimulus
''Physalis'' (, , , , from φυσαλλίς ''phusallís'' "bladder") is a genus of approximately 75 to 90 flowering plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae), which are native to the Americas and Australasia. At least 46 species are endemic ...
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* '' Pleurothallis unguicallosa''
* '' Salvia pseudomisella''
* ''Sida nesogena
Sida may refer to:
* ''Sida'' (crustacean), a genus of cladoceran water fleas
* ''Sida'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* SIDA, Security Identification Display Area, US FAA
* Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, a Swedis ...
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* '' Sideroxylon socorrense'' ( Vulnerable)
* '' Verbena sphaerocarpa''
* '' Vernonia littoralis''
''Brickellia peninsularis'' var. ''amphithalassa'', ''Cheilanthes peninsularis'' var. ''insularis'', ''Nicotiana stocktonii
''Nicotiana'' () is a genus of herbaceous plants and shrubs in the family Solanaceae, that is indigenous to the Americas, Australia, Southwestern Africa and the South Pacific. Various ''Nicotiana'' species, commonly referred to as tobacco plant ...
'', ''Spermacoce nesiotica
''Spermacoce'' or false buttonweed is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It comprises about 275 species found throughout the tropics and subtropics. Its highest diversity is found in the Americas, followed by Africa, Australia a ...
'' and ''Zapoteca formosa'' ssp. ''rosei'' are near-endemics, being restricted to Socorro and Clarión. Whether ''Teucrium townsendii'' ssp. ''affine'' is the same plant as those on San Benedicto is not conclusively determined.
Visiting information
Socorro Island is a popular scuba diving
Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...
destination known for underwater encounters with dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s, shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimo ...
s, manta ray
Manta rays are large rays belonging to the genus ''Mobula'' (formerly its own genus ''Manta''). The larger species, '' M. birostris'', reaches in width, while the smaller, '' M. alfredi'', reaches . Both have triangular Pectoral fin#AnchPect ...
s and other pelagic
The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean, and can be further divided into regions by depth (as illustrated on the right). The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or wa ...
animals. Since there is no public airport on the island, divers visit here on live-aboard dive vessels. The most popular months are between November and May when the weather and seas are calmer. November to December are popular months to visit for a good chance to dive with whale sharks. January and February are popular months to scuba dive with humpback whales as they are then migrating through the Revillagigedo archipelago.
See also
* List of volcanoes in Mexico
Types of volcanoes
There are multiple types of volcanoes in Mexico. Volcanoes can be of different types such as cinder cone volcanoes, composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes, and lava domes. Each of these variations of volcanos forms in its ...
Notes
References
External links
Socorro Endemic Bird Area (BirdLife International)
{{Authority control
Islands of Colima
Pacific islands of Mexico
Volcanoes of Colima
Volcanoes of the Pacific Ocean
Polygenetic shield volcanoes
Underwater diving sites in Mexico
Endemic Bird Areas