Darwin & Australia's Rabbits: A Timeline Mismatch

Charles Darwin was **not puzzled by a lack of rabbits in Australia**—because **rabbits were not there during his visit**, and he knew why.

The Timeline

• 1836: Darwin visits Australia (Sydney, Hobart, King George Sound) on *HMS Beagle* voyage. **No wild rabbits exist.**
• 1859: *On the Origin of Species* published.
• 1859 (Oct): **Thomas Austin releases 24 wild rabbits** on his Barwon Park estate near Geelong, Victoria—**23 years after Darwin left**.
• 1860s–1900s: Rabbits explode across the continent (fastest mammal colonization ever).

Darwin's Actual Australian Observations

Darwin *was* struck by **Australia's unique mammal fauna**—**marsupials (kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats) and monotremes (platypus, echidna)**—and the **absence of native placental mammals** (except bats, rodents, dingo). He wrote in *Voyage of the Beagle*:

"The number of marsupials... is truly wonderful... An unbeliever in everything beyond his own reason might exclaim, 'Surely two distinct Creators must have been at work...'"

He understood **biogeography**: Australia's long isolation led to marsupial radiation. Rabbits (placental) were absent because they **couldn't cross the ocean barrier**. Their later introduction by humans confirmed his principles—**invasive species disrupt naive ecosystems**.

The "puzzled by no rabbits" story is a **myth conflating his actual wonder at marsupial uniqueness with the later rabbit disaster**.