Bird Gallery

Archaeopteryx fossil, Berlin specimen C016/5071

Archaeopteryx fossil, Berlin specimen. Cast of the Archaeopteryx specimen held at the Berlin Natural History Museum. This cast shows the spread-out wings and long, clawed fingers. Archaeopteryx is the earliest known bird, dating from the Upper Jurassic. This cast is part of the collections held at the Natural History Museum, London, UK

© NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, LONDON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Charles Darwin, British naturalist

Charles Darwin (1809-1882), British naturalist. Darwin had briefly studied medicine and then trained in the clergy, but his interest was in natural history. In 1831 he set sail as naturalist on HMS Beagle (left), which was to provide the fieldwork for his famous book. His theory of evolution was published as On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection (1859). It caused a storm of controversy with Christian orthodoxy, as it contradicted the widely accepted belief that different animal and plant species were created by a divine creator (God)

© SMETEK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Aldeburgh Beach AA082551

ALDEBURGH BEACH, Suffolk. View along the beach showing a line of sea marks and a fisherman with a wicker basket walking up the beach with gulls wheeling overhead. Photographed by John Gay in 1977

© Historic England

Beach, Bird, Coast, People, Sea