The once-isolated islands of the Galápagos gave Charles Darwin insights into the dynamics of evolution that changed forever the way we think about the world. A century and a half later, scientists are still pursuing the ideas that drove him but are carrying these studies into a wide range of new locations—some exotic, some close to home.
“The evidence is overwhelming that evolution happened largely as Darwin proposed,” says Jerry Coyne, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Chicago and author of Why Evolution Is True. “Working through the engine of evolutionary change—natural selection—we can see evidence of animals’ and plants’ adapting to their environment before our eyes.” Such research took on cosmic importance recently when one of NASA’s Mars rovers found deposits of silica similar to those at the hot springs of Yellowstone Park. On earth such deposits typically contain remains of microscopic life.
Described below are some other places where modern followers of Darwin go for fresh inspiration about how life has adapted to nearly every environment on the globe.
25,000 feet under the sea At the bottom of one of the world’s deepest ocean trenches, scientists have discovered a thriving colony of highly sociable fish—something they never expected to find there. Researchers had assumed that fish in such a harsh environment would be fragile, solitary, and motionless, conserving their energy due to a meager food supply. But high-definition submersible cameras captured images of abundant life nearly five miles beneath the surface of the Pacific. One camera spotted a cluster of 19 snailfish darting around bait like goldfish in a pond despite near-freezing cold, total darkness, and water pressure of five tons per square inch.
