Summary. The Evolution of living beings is no longer just an intriguing theory, but it is nowadays well proved by a series of evidences, observed in various species of plants and animals. Many of these animals (some of them already described by Charles Darwin in his The Origins of the Species") are present in the collections of the Trieste Natural History Museum. The collection of this institute (at present unfortunately temporarily closed for restoration) dates back to 1800 and nowadays consists of more than one million specimens. The unusual Horned Screamer (a sort of tropical spur-winged Goose) as painted in the Darwin's book is preserved in our collections. In the first few rooms there is the mysterious Latimeria (a 'living fossil' fish) and the strange Okapi (an 'old cousin' of the giraffe): both animals were discovered after Darwin death, but are significant in proving his ideas.
Moreover, also looking around in the rich biodiversity of the Triestine Karst, as well as downtown in the modern urban ecosystem of Trieste, we can find living examples of contemporary evolution in progress: from the blind cave olms, to the spreading city gulls.



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(*) Biodata: Dr. Nicola Bressi is a zoologist and conservation biologist. He obtained a degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Trieste. His postgraduate studies were in the fields of herpetology and nature conservation at the University of Göteborg. He has had teaching activities and research experience in various Institutes and with Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). At present he is Senior Curator of the Trieste Natural History Museum, where his main activity is in museology, conservation, restoration, popularization and management of habitat and species, mainly in wetlands, karstic areas and urban/agricultural environment. Dr. Bressi is a member of the Steering Committee of the European Pond Conservation Network and of the Conservation Committee of the Italian Herpetological Society.
Since 1989 he works in various programs of pond study, management, awareness and restoration, from Alps to Mediterranean. In 2001 he conceived and organized the Advanced Course in "Conservation and Management of Small Freshwater Wetlands" that has become a regular event every year in Trieste.
He is Advisor of the Nature Conservation Department of the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia as well as a founding member of the Scientific Committee for the Aquarium and Sea-Park in Trieste and of the "Carso Futuro", a group of landscape ecologists.
He has published over 60 scientific and popular papers.

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