Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Egg From Darwin Voyage Comes to Light

Naturalist signed—and cracked—relic from Beagle excursion

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 10, 2009 9:46 AM CDT

(Newser) – The only egg known to have survived from Charles Darwin's round-the-world voyage on the Beagle has surfaced in Cambridge University's zoology museum, the BBC reports. A volunteer sorting through the museum's vast egg collection found the egg—from an ostrich-like bird in Uruguay—and realized it bore the naturalist's signature.

A museum director searched the archives and found 19th-century correspondence noting that Darwin's son had given the egg to the museum, and that the naturalist himself had broken it after the voyage by putting it in a too-small box. "To have rediscovered a Beagle specimen in the 200th year of Darwin's birth is special enough, but to have evidence that Darwin himself broke it is a wonderful twist," he said.

The great man put it into too small a box and hence its unhappy state, a 19th-century ornithologist wrote after receiving the egg from Darwin's voyage.
"The great man put it into too small a box and hence its unhappy state," a 19th-century ornithologist wrote after receiving the egg from Darwin's voyage.   (©celerrimus)
This photo provided by the Granger Collection shows English naturalist Charles Darwin, circa 1878.
This photo provided by the Granger Collection shows English naturalist Charles Darwin, circa 1878.   (AP Photo/The Granger Collection)
Three of the four mockingbirds collected by Charles Darwin from the Galapagos Islands in 1835 are seen as part of a museum display marking the 200th anniversary of the naturalist's birth.
Three of the four mockingbirds collected by Charles Darwin from the Galapagos Islands in 1835 are seen as part of a museum display marking the 200th anniversary of the naturalist's birth.   (AP Photo/ Natural History Museum-ho)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Be the first to comment on this story.

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne