04.01.08

The Bard of Evolution

Last night I had dinner with Geerat Vermeij--a man who can examine a shell and understand its history whether hundreds of millions of years old or newly collected on the seashore. He's one of the world's most famous paleoecologists and has published on subjects ranging from leaf morphology to bird evolution. I've been interested to chat with the Distinguished Professor from UC Davis ever since reading about his research to understand evolution.

It also happens that Geerat Vermeij is blind. And yet, he sees what others do not...

Vermeij is best known for his work on mollusk shells.  It turns out all those contours and patterns and divots and holes on the surface reveal the story of a critter's life and death. In this respect, Vermeij is perhaps the world's most gifted bard.

Geerat was born with glaucoma and has been completely blind since age three.  What's incredible is that while he's not able to see animals and fossils, he has contributed tremendously to our understanding of the natural world.  Vermeij uses his fingers to feel shells that have been damaged and determines the changing relationships between predators and prey over time.  His work details what's described as an evolutionary arms race.  He's documented the way mollusks have evolved more protective armor while concurrently their predators have developed stronger claws and jaws.

And while I was already familiar with Vermeij's reputation as esteemed marine biologist, yesterday I  also learned the professor makes an excellent dinner companion. We don't agree on everything, but I sure enjoyed the discussion and hope he'll visit us in Durham again soon...

Read more about Geerat Vermeij here.

Tags: evolution, Gareet Vermeij, shell

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