Galápagos tortoise
In response to these changing ecological pressures, island species can become much more docile than their mainland counterparts, and may grow larger (see island gigantism) or smaller (see island dwarfism). Some of these unique adaptations are reflected in charismatic island species such as the Malagasy hippopotamus, Komodo dragon, or pygmy mammoths. Although, the giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands and the Seychelles (the Galápagos tortoise and Aldabrachelys respectively) are sometimes given as examples of insular gigantism, they are now thought to represent the last remaining populations of historically widespread giant tortoises i.e. gigantism is an ancestral trait that occurred in the absence of insular selection pressures. The collection of differences in morphology, ecology, physiology and behaviour of insular species compared to their continental counterparts is termed Island syndrome.