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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Marcio Pimenta, with additional reporting by Caio Barretto Briso

Darwin in Patagonia: tracing the naturalist’s route around the foot of South America

Geologist Maximiliano Rueda crouches on a dried mud beach next to dinosaur footprints
Geologist Maximiliano Rueda examines footprints of Mylodon darwinii – a giant sloth that became extinct 10,000 years ago – on a beach at Punta Alta, where Charles Darwin originally found its fossils. Photograph: Marcio Pimenta/The Guardian

Far from the recognisable image of the white-bearded father of modern biology, when Charles Darwin embarked on his expedition into the unknown, he was a young man who had twice disappointed his family.

A model of a rigged tall ship
A model of HMS Beagle, the navy ship Darwin sailed to South America in 1831. Photograph: Marcio Pimenta
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