Book

On the backs of tortoises : Darwin, the Galâapagos, and the fate of an evolutionary Eden

Hennessy, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Ann), author

Overview

\"The Galâapagos archipelago is often viewed as a last foothold of pristine nature. For sixty years, conservationists have worked to restore this evolutionary Eden after centuries of exploitation at the hands of pirates, whalers, and island settlers. This book tells the story of the islands' namesakes--the giant tortoises--as coveted food sources, objects of natural history, and famous icons of conservation and tourism. By doing so, it brings into stark relief the paradoxical, and impossible, goal of conserving species by trying to restore a past state of prehistoric evolution. The tortoises, Elizabeth Hennessy demonstrates, are not prehistoric, but rather microcosms whose stories show how deeply human and nonhuman life are entangled. In a world where evolution is thoroughly shaped by global history, Hennessy puts forward a vision for conservation based on reckoning with the past, rather than trying to erase it.\"--Dust jacket.

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Subject: Galapagos tortoise. / Galapagos tortoise Conservation. / Rare reptiles Galapagos Islands. / Extinct reptiles Galapagos Islands. / Evolution (Biology) History. / Nature Effect of human beings on Galapagos Islands. / Island ecology Galapagos Islands. / Restoration ecology Galapagos Islands. / Galapagos Islands Environmental conditions.
• ISBN: 9780300232745, 0300232748

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
QH198.G3 H455 2019	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE