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Darwin's First Clues

He was inspired by fossils of armadillos and sloths.

/2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-01-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-01.jpg Photograph by Luciano Candisani, Minden Pictures The Atlantic Forest, Carlos Botelho State Park, Brazil "The day has past delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest."—The Voyage of the Beagle, February 29, 1832]]> /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-02-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-02.jpg Photograph by Mattias Klum Hypothyris ninonia daeta butterfly alights on a leaf in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, one of the first stops Charles Darwin made as naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle. In his diary he described the enchantment of his initial foray into the wilds of South America: "After passing through some cultivated country, we entered a Forest, which in the grandeur of all its parts could not be exceeded."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1201637 /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-03-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-03.jpg Photograph by Peter Essick Pia Bay, Tierra del Fuego, Chile "It is scarcely possible to imagine any thing more beautiful than the beryl-like blue of these glaciers, and especially as contrasted with the dead white of the upper expanse of snow."—January 29, 1833]]> /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-04-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-04.jpg Photograph by Mattias Klum Lycalopex griseus) yawns as dusk falls on Chile's Torres del Paine National Park. In Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin chronicled his first encounter with another member of the same genus, Darwin's fox (Lycalopex fulvipes): "I was able, by quietly walking up behind, to knock him on the head with my geological hammer. This fox, more curious or more scientific, but less wise, than the generality of his brethren, is now mounted in the museum of the Zoological Society."]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1201638 /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-05-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-05.jpg Photograph by Mattias Klum Kicker Rock, off San Cristóbal, Galápagos Islands "The archipelago is a little world within itself…both in space and time, we seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact—that mystery of mysteries—the first appearance of new beings on this earth."—October 8, 1835]]> http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/natgeo?photo_name=1201639 /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-06-475.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-06.jpg Illustrations from The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle; reproduced by permission of John van Wyhe, ed., The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online Toxodon platensis.]]> /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-07-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-07.jpg Illustrations from The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle; reproduced by permission of John van Wyhe, ed., The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online Mus darwinii. The vast assemblage of specimens he shipped back to London for study included 5,436 skins, bones, and carcasses.]]> /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-08-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-08.jpg Illustrations from The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle; reproduced by permission of John van Wyhe, ed., The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online Megatherium had sharp teeth, vastly different from those of its living tree-dwelling cousins.]]> /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-09-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-09.jpg Illustrations from The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle; reproduced by permission of John van Wyhe, ed., The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online Toxodon perplexed Darwin, who called it "perhaps one of the strangest animals ever discovered."]]> /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-10-714.jpg /2009/02/darwin/img/darwin-60-10.jpg Photograph by Frans Lanting Galápagos tortoises in Alcedo Caldera, Isabela Island "Near the springs it was a curious spectacle to behold many of these huge creatures, one set eagerly travelling onwards with outstretched necks, and another set returning, after having drunk their fill."—October 8, 1835]]>