“Given that the concepts and realities of Darwinian evolution are still challenged, albeit rarely by biologists, a succinct briefing on why evolution by natural selection is an empirically validated principle is useful for people to have to hand.”

On the eve of Darwin’s 200th birthday earlier this year, Nature published this compilation of 15 examples published by the magazine over the past decade or so to illustrate the breadth, depth and power of evolutionary thinking. Nature is generously offering this resource freely and encourages its free dissemination, so do share with your children, their teachers and your friends.

Here’s a list of the 15 gems -

Gems from the Fossil Record

• Land-living ancestors of whales
• From water to land
• The origin of feathers
• The evolutionary history of teeth
• The origin of the vertebrate skeleton

Gems from Habitats

• Natural selection in speciation
• Natural selection in lizards
• A case of co-evolution
• Differential dispersal in wild birds
• Selective survival in wild guppies
• Evolutionary history matters

Gems from Molecular Processes

• Darwin’s Galapagos finches
• Microevolution meets macroevolution
• Toxin resistance in snakes and clams
• Variation versus stability