All life is related. And it enables us to construct with confidence the complex tree that represents the history of life

I am an ardent recycler. I would like to think that it works. I don't know whether it does or not.

If my grandchildren were to look at me and say, 'You were aware species were disappearing and you did nothing, you said nothing', that I think is culpable. I don't know how much more they expect me to be doing, I'd better ask them.

I can mention many moments that were unforgettable and revelatory. But the most single revelatory three minutes was the first time I put on scuba gear and dived on a coral reef. It's just the unbelievable fact that you can move in three dimensions.

Very few species have survived unchanged. There's one called lingula, which is a little shellfish, a little brachiopod about the size of my fingernail, that has survived for 500 million years, but it's survived by being unobtrusive and doing nothing, and you can't accuse human beings of that.

I'm not over-fond of animals. I am merely astounded by them.

What I am interested in with birds, just as I am with spiders or monkeys, is what they do and why they do it.