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Brushtailed possums, shown here in their native Australia, are among the most destructive pests in New Zealand.

Waging War on Mammals in New Zealand

The family spent days in a cabin eating food, provided by the New Zealand Department of Conservation, which requested to stomp on kiwi-killing vermin

An olive tree in Italy

Italy: Where the Olive Oil is the Most Flavorful

An organic farming network gave my niece the opportunity. Then she gave me the nectar of the gods

Andrew Bland, brother of the author, shivers and shakes after a frigid abalone, or paua, dive in Akaroa Harbour.

Into New Zealand’s Strange Waters and Prehistoric Forests

The absence of native mammals, aside from bats and pinnipeds, gives the impression that New Zealand is still in the age of dinosaurs

Milford Sound, in Fiordland National Park, offers some of New Zealand's most thrilling scenery.

Journey to the Bottom of the Earth – Almost

Anyone would be a fool to visit the South Island and not see the cliffs and marine scenery of Milford Sound

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in The Trip

Goofing Around in England’s Lake District

Now out on DVD, The Trip, with comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, takes the road movie into the storied English countryside

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Where would you go to experience EVOTOURISM?

Where have gone that gave you a new appreciation of evolution? Where would you like to go? What evotourism destinations would you like us to look into?

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EVOTOURISM: Because It’s Time for Travel to Evolve

Journey through the history of life from the Jurassic Coast to the Cradle of Humankind

The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles is the only active urban paleontological excavation site in the United States.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: La Brea Tar Pits, California

Just a short drive from the mansions of Beverly Hills lies a site where paleontologists have found over three million fossils

The Burgess Shale, a crumbling slope in Canada's Rocky Mountains, has provided our first good look at the rich variety of organisms that once flourished in the region.

Evolution World Tour: Burgess Shale, British Columbia, Canada

Located in the Canadian Rockies, the fossil-rich dig site provides clues to scientists investigating how animal life began

Three-toed horses such as Cormohipparion occidentale were adapted to forests prior to 12 million years ago. As the climate dried, one-toed horses became prevalent.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Ashfall Fossil Beds, Nebraska

Prehistoric rhinoceroses and horses died of volcanic ash inhalation 12 million years ago – their fossils are studied now as an example of natural selection

Cristián Samper, evolutionary biologist and the director of Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, discusses his favorite evotourism sites.

Cristián Samper on Appreciating Evolution

The director of the Natural History Museum discusses why understanding evolution is so critical

Although he didn’t realize it at the time, friar Gregor Mendel, statue in the Abbey of St. Thomas, had discovered a crucial genetic mechanism underlying natural selection.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Mendel’s Garden, Czech Republic

At an abbey in the Czech town of Brno, a friar studied peas and laid the groundwork for modern genetics

The Jurassic Coast encompasses 185 million years of history.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Jurassic Coast, England

The best opportunity to play paleontologist is on the southern coast of England, a site rich with marine reptile fossils

Heavily forested slopes near Spirit Lake were devastated by the eruption as shown in this photo in 1982.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Mount St. Helens, Washington

Over thirty years after the volcanic eruption, plant and animal life has returned to the disaster site, a veritable living laboratory

Far from the mainland and one another, the Galapágos Islands host animals with distinctive traits, such as the notched shell of Pinzón Island’s saddleback giant tortoise.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

The exotic locale, home to tortoises, cacti, iguanas and finches, was a source of inspiration for Darwin’s theory of evolution

South Africa’s limestone caves, such as Sterkfontein often hold the fossilized skeletons of hominids who fell into holes or were dragged underground by predators.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: The Cradle of Humankind, South Africa

The world’s greatest source of hominid fossils is among dozens of caves just hours from Johannesburg

Whales evolved from mammals that adapted to hunt in oceans. Skeletons of Basilosaurus, a whale ancestor, reveal the leviathan still retained tiny hind legs.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Wadi Hitan, Egypt

In Egypt’s Western Desert, evidence abounds that before they were the kings of the ocean, whales roamed the earth on four legs

Wolves hunting moose on Isle Royale are a dramatic example of what scientists call co-evolution: two species, such as a predator and its prey, adapting to each other’s adaptations.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Isle Royale, Michigan

Moose and wolves face off in the world’s longest-running study of predators and prey

Foraminifera provide scientists with an invaluable fossil record. Their exquisite outer shells, normally too small for the naked eye, inspired sculptures in Zhongshan, China.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Foraminifera Sculpture Park, China

Some of the world’s oldest organisms left behind fossilized shells that, when translated to a large sculpture, bring an artistic edge to evolution

Koalas, kangaroos and wallabies are abundant on the island and not particularly fearful, so it’s possible to have close encounters with these distant mammalian kin.

Evotourism ®

Evolution World Tour: Kangaroo Island, Australia

Mammals come in three types and the best place to see them all in one place is this small island off the southern coast of Australia

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