摘要
The year 2009 marked the bicentenary of Charles Darwin’s birth,and for the last 12 months zoologists have been reminded of the enormous contribution that Darwin made to our understanding of the natural world.We have celebrated his contribution in workshops and symposia,often in association with other professional bodies like the International Union of Biological Sciences(IUBS),but more importantly for this journal,we have celebrated Darwin’s work through publication of how his work has impacted upon present day science.Darwin would have been delighted with the understanding that has arisen through our discoveries in molecular biology.He would have been overjoyed with knowledge of the nature of DNA,but I suspect he would have been surprised,perhaps even alarmed at the impact that humans have had on the environment and the effect that this has had on the biosphere.We are well aware that environments change,and the geological record is testament to this,but it is the rapidity with which this change is occurring that is of concern.We have lost many taxa already,and sadly we will lose many more–perhaps even before they are described.
