author
Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton
1856–1943
A leading British evolutionary biologist and entomologist, he spent his career defending natural selection at a time when many scientists were unconvinced. His writing on animal coloration helped shape how later readers understood camouflage, warning colors, and mimicry.
1 Audiobook
Charles Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection
by Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton
About the author
Born in Reading in 1856, Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton studied at Jesus College, Oxford, and went on to build a long academic career there. He became Hope Professor of Zoology in 1893 and was closely associated with Oxford's study of insects and evolution.
Poulton is best remembered for championing Darwin's theory of natural selection through a period when it was under serious debate. His work on animal coloration and mimicry made him especially influential, and his 1890 book The Colours of Animals is often noted for introducing and developing ideas about warning coloration. He also coined the term "sympatric" for species arising in the same geographic area.
Alongside his research, Poulton was a prolific writer and an important public defender of evolutionary thinking. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and his reputation endured as one of the key British zoologists linking Victorian natural history with modern evolutionary biology.