Used with
permission of Maiken Naylor, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA,
http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/exhibits/stamps
A convincing argument for evolution can be made from the fossilized, extinct life forms found in rock formations, whose age can be determined. Darwin likened these remains to the dropped, decayed branches of the great tree of life, which fill the crust of the earth; these are whole families and genera of which there are now no living representatives. Meanwhile, the living branches and twigs, or species, continue to branch out and cover the earth with ever greater ramifications. Although there were competing theories of evolution in the 19th century, the most successful of these was launched with the 1859 publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (the title says it all). Darwin (1809-1882) developed many of his ideas for Origin of Species from observations on a five-year voyage of scientific exploration on the H.M.S. Beagle. The British stamps above hint at quirks of evolution of the exotic fauna he encountered in the Galapagos Islands, where isolation from the mainland and other continents brought forth specialized beaks in finches, among other developments.