That’s a type of Darwin’s finch perched atop a giant tortoise on Isabela Island, the largest of the Galápagos Islands. The Galápagos form an archipelago more than 500 miles off the west coast of the South American mainland, and the islands are home to many species found nowhere else on earth. The bird is named, of course, for Charles Darwin, the naturalist who traveled here in 1835. His observations of several finch species and other wildlife endemic to the Galápagos contributed to his theory of natural selection, which he documented in ‘On the Origin of Species,’ a book that’s considered a cornerstone of biology. It was first published on this day in 1859.
The tortoise and the finch
Today in History
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Just another day in paradise
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A tree of many memories
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Umschreibung by Olafur Eliasson in Munich
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Wind Cave National Park celebrates 120 years
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Into the woods
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A tower of remembrance
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Oymyakon, Russia
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International Day of Mangrove Conservation
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Where fire meets water
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Giant kelp in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
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Fall comes to the Last Frontier
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Overlooking the Douro
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Detroit Industry Murals by Diego Rivera
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World Architecture Day
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Okavango Delta, Botswana
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Siblings Day
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At the gates of the ksar
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Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
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A ‘circus of chaos’ for Stravinsky
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Why, aloe there
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Green is the new black
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In Apia Harbor for Samoan Independence Day
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The glowing waters of the Matsu Islands
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Who s hiding in the kelp?
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Shining like Klondike gold
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A memorial in Germany
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Christmas Bird Count
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Bridges to the past
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National Love a Tree Day
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All eyes on sustainability