On the Origin of Species

Interesting piece in the Daily News today about the, um, minor baboon problem that’s developed in Cape Town, site of next year’s World Cup:

The cheeky primates have learned how to open car doors and jump through windows in pursuit of tasty sandwiches and snacks.

City officials are battling to control the increasingly aggressive troupes and there are fears the problem will only worsen with the influx of visitors to Cape Town during the World Cup next year.

On Tuesday, a troupe of 29 baboons raided four cars outside Simon’s Town, a small coastal neighborhood. A baboon dubbed “Fred,” the leader of the group, opened unlocked doors and jumped through windows to search for food.

In related news, November 24th marked the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”:

In this book, Darwin described how evolution by natural selection works — and presented a huge body of evidence, drawn from every field of biology then known, that evolution can account for the patterns we see in nature.

Olivia Judson succintly summarizes why Darwin’s “Origin” is so significant:

And the “Origin” changed everything. Before the “Origin,” the diversity of life could only be catalogued and described; afterwards, it could be explained and understood. Before the “Origin,” species were generally seen as fixed entities, the special creations of a deity; afterwards, they became connected together on a great family tree that stretches back, across billions of years, to the dawn of life. Perhaps most importantly, the “Origin” changed our view of ourselves. It made us as much a part of nature as hummingbirds and bumblebees (or humble-bees, as Darwin called them); we, too, acquired a family tree with a host of remarkable and distinguished ancestors.

So, while human beings often have a difficult time remembering that we are, indeed, as much a part of nature as hummingbirds and humble-bees, sometimes nature - in the form of, say, baboons - reminds us of this fact in a most jarring way. 

I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.