Primitive Gallery

HMS Beagle Ship laid up Darwins Voyage

"Beagle laid ashore, River Santa Cruz". Copperplate engraving, art by Conrad Martens, engraved by T. Landseer. Published by H. Colburn 1838. Plate from The Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of HMS Adventure and Beagle'. The Beagle was grounded for repairs on the 16th April 1834 to repair damage caused by a rock at Port Desire and to check the copper sheets were in tact (Fitzroy notes they were about to enter the Pacific where worms soon eat their way through unprotected planks). They found that a piece of the false keel had been knocked off and the copper was heavily rubbed in places. The carpenter Mr. May repaired it all in one tide. The Beagle undertook a repainting and refit while Fitzroy, Darwin and a small crew explored several days upriver

© PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Prehistoric marine life of around 380 to 360 million years ago showing three carnivorous species (Dunkleosteus Stethacanthus Cladoselache spp.)

Prehistoric marine life of around 380 to 360 million years ago showing three carnivorous species (Dunkleosteus, Stethacanthus, Cladoselache spp.). Dunkleosteus, the largest, dark grey fish, measured up to 10 m. The Stethacanthus shark had an anvil-shaped dorsal fin, and Cladoselache at upper right was another shark, sleek and swift, resembling the present-day mackerel sharks

Cambrian animals, artwork

Cambrian animals. Artwork of an Opabinia regalis invertebrate (upper right) attempting to catch its prey, a primitive chordate called Pikaia (lower left). They are swimming in an ancient sea during the Cambrian Period. This period is known for the Cambrian Explosion (around 500 million years ago), the evolution of an extremely diverse array of invertebrates. Most of these went extinct, but the ones that remained formed the basis of animal life on Earth today. Pikaia is thought to have been the ancestor of all vertebrate life, including humans

© RICHARD BIZLEY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY