Pigeon skins

Darwin’s observations on the effects of selective breeding in animals and plants were central to the development of his thinking. The group Darwin explored most intensely were pigeons, which he kept himself. He collected information, skeletons, skins, and feathers from other breeders, most notably William Tegetmeier. The Almond tumbler shown here is from Tegetmeier’s own collection, which he donated to the University Zoology Museum. Darwin noted that pigeon fanciers had been able to create all the fantastical features of their prize-winning birds by selective breeding from a common ancestor, but also that other long-term changes were inherited that had not been intended by the breeders.

(right) UMZC 17/Col/8/y/9, Columbia livia – ancestral, rock dove
(left) UMZC 17/Col/8/y/26, Columbia livia – domestic, almond tumbler
Objects on loan from the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, and reproduced by kind permission