适者生存：达尔文和小猎犬号的故事

物竞天择，适者生存。it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.
- Darwin, 1809-1882, naturalist

达尔文1859年发表“物种起源”时，用了这段著名的开场白：“在小猎犬号担任随船自然学者时，我真是被一些现象惊到啦。”（起初他只是难搞的菲茨罗伊船长的私人陪伴，自然学者另有其人。）When Charles Darwin published his The Origin of Species in 1859, he began with the famous opening line 'When on board H.M.S. 'Beagle,' as naturalist, I was much struck with certain facts.'

小猎犬号之旅，在科学考察史上有着重要的位置。The voyage of the Beagle (1831-1836) was one of the most important scientific expeditions in history.

菲茨罗伊船长因小猎犬号闻名，作为气象学先驱，他使准确预报天气成为现实，同时他也是勘探员和水道学者，并曾担任新西兰总督。Robert FitzRoy (1805 – 1865) achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle, and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality. He was an able surveyor and hydrographer and served as Governor of New Zealand from 1843 to 1845.

年轻的查尔斯达尔文随船。On board was the young naturalist Charles Darwin.

达尔文所到之处，深入研究当地的地质、动物、植物和人。Darwin intensively studied the geology, animals, plants and peoples of the lands visited for 5 years.

沿途他有一系列惊人的发现，特别是在南美洲，那里也是他意识到生物会随着时间进化的地方。Along the way he made a number of striking discoveries, particularly in South America, which eventually led him to realize that living things must evolve over time.

旅行回来不久，达尔文即产生了生物进化理论。然而，他花了近30年时间来研究和印证，直到发表“物种起源”。Darwin comes up with his Theory of Evolution by natural selection soon after returning. He spends nearly 30 years studying the evidence before publishing his work.

科学家预计生物种类有300万－3000万。多样性从何而来？Scientists estimate that there are between three million and thirty million species of living things. Where did this staggering diversity come from?

答案在于物竞天择，动植物对所处的环境的逐渐适应。The answer lies in natural selection, the gradual adaptation of plants and animals to their environments.

直到今天，生物学家沿用的很多简单技术，仍与当初达尔文获得结论所用的相同。Today, biologists still use many of the same simple techniques that led Darwin to his revolutionary conclusions.

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第一版巴塔哥尼亚地图，达尔文绘制上色。1st geological map of patagonia, drawn & colored by charles darwin.

龟岛。‘Turtle Island’ La expedición en el Beagle.

加拉帕戈鬣蜥。A Galapagos iguana from Darwin, 1845.

达尔文旅途所见南非卡非人。A South African Kaffir by Darwin.

大英博物馆收录，海洋类苔藓动物门目录。Catalogue of marine Polyzoa in the collection of the British Museum, Part III.

兰花，附生植物。On the Identity of three supposed Genera of Orchideous Epiphytes.

南美洲和大洋洲岛屿的菌类。Notice on some fungi collected by C. Darwin, Esq., in South America and the Islands of the Pacific.

已在更新世灭绝的南美洲磨齿兽科 (Mylodontidae) 地獭动物的化石。On the Scelidothere (Scelidotherium leptocephalum, Owen).

洪堡的插图，在安第斯山脉的钦博拉索山上升。Humboldt's illustration of his famous ascent of Mount Chimborazo in the Andes in 1802.

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