ORIGIN OF DARWIN'S THEORY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22718, 2 November 1935, Page 3

ORIGIN OF DARWIN'S THEORY

NATURE SANCTUARIES TO BE ESTABLISHED The islands in the Galapagos Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean, where, exactly 100 years ago, Charles Darwin was first led to develop his theory of evolution, may be reserved as nature sanctuaries by the Government of Ecuador, which has jurisdiction over the islands. This announcement was made at the" opening of a special centenary exhibition illustrating Darwin's visit; to the islands which was held at the Natural History Museum, London, recently. Apart from their historical interest.- the islands afford a remarkable illustration of the different lines followed by evolution in isolated communities. Now this unique life is threatened by the cats, dogs and pigs, descendants of those left behind by former settlers, which have developed predatory habits. Under natural conditions there were no land mammals on tha islands. During his visit to the islands Darwin especially studied the reptiles and birds, including giant tortoises and finches. What first impressed him was that the life of the islands, though clearly connected with thnt of South America, had evolved along different lines because of the separation of the original stocks. Afterwards he noticd that the I'fe of each island had developed separately. Each has its own spocies of tortoise, and there are wide differences between the finches of the different islands. About half the specimens on view at the exhibition were taken from Darwin's original' collections.