Was Darwin inspired by the tropical wildlife of his travels to discover natural selection? Actually, pigeons, worms and barnacles were far more prominent in his thinking.
More than 1,500 introduced species have been recorded on the Galapagos Islands, and most have arrived since the archipelago’s tourism industry was expanded in the 1970s.
Trips to Antartica are part of the ‘last chance’ tourism to environmentally fragile places.
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James P. Gibbs, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
The Galapagos Islands’ giant tortoises are one of the world’s best examples of evolution. Scientists are pioneering new conservation strategies to save them from extinction and restore their habitat.
Australia’s government has lobbied hard to avoid the Great Barrier Reef being described internationally as being in danger. But that publicity wouldn’t necessarily hit tourism that hard anyway.
One of the several precious giant tortoises recently found on Volcano Wolf, Galápagos Islands.
Luciano Beheregaray
When 100-year-old giant tortoise Lonesome George died in 2012, the world thought his species was lost forever. We went to the Galápagos Islands looking for ‘extinct’ tortoises – and we found them.
The discovery of the genes that influence the beak shape in the famous Galapagos finches highlight the underlying unity of all life.
Paul Krawczuk/Flickr
Darwin’s finches are known to be a paragon of evolution by natural selection, but a recent genetic discovery relating to their beaks highlights the evolutionary connectedness of all life.
Darwin’s finch nestlings are highly vulnerable to a parasitic fly – unless their folks fumigate the nest.
Sarah A. Knutie
When a bird species is threatened by nest parasites, you might think the logical next step is to fumigate – unsurprisingly, though, physically spraying nests (as you might spray an infested house) is disruptive…
Professor of Vertebrate Conservation Biology and Director of the Roosevelt Wild Life Station, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry