Nicholas Lawson

Nicholas Oliver Lawson (born Nicolai Olaus Lossius; 23 November 1790 – 1 March 1851) was a Norwegian-born, vice governor of Galápagos for the Republic of Ecuador. While there, he provided information which contributed to Charles Darwin's first realisation that species might be changeable, and eventually to Darwin's theorising about evolution.

Early life Nicolai Olaus Lossius was born on the island of Sekken in Romsdal county, Norway on 23 November 1790. He was baptized in Veøy Church outside Molde in Romsdal during late 1790. At 16, he went to sea where he sailed from England.

As Nicholas Oliver Lawson, he took citizenship in the United States in 1811. In his zoological notes, Darwin recorded that "It is said that slight variations in the form of the shell are constant according to the Island which they inhabit — also the average largest size appears equally to vary according to the locality.— Mr Lawson states he can on seeing a Tortoise pronounce with certainty from which island it has been brought." This was one of the points which Darwin listed later in the voyage, between mid-June and August 1836, as arousing his first suspicion that "such facts would undermine the stability of Species". After the voyage, Darwin developed this idea during his investigations into transmutation of species, resulting in his theory of evolution.

Lawson introduced goats, sheep and pigs to Floreana, and possibly other islands, by 1830. These grew quickly in number and damaged the natural habitat. He also planted wheat, barley, figs, papaya, lemons and sugarcane on the island. The cotton plants he brought over hybridised with the native plants, the hybrid is now the dominant variety in the region around Puerto Velasco Ibarra.