![]() Gene flow between islands occurs with occasional immigrants depending on storms and the distance between islands.įor several decades, scientists have gone to the Galapagos islands to study the physical characteristics of the finches there. The ecology of the different islands influences which species live on each island, and especially which species co-exist on an island. Their mating behaviors, such as times and songs, differ greatly, maintaining the distinct species. In good times, they often eat the same foods, but in times of scarcity, each species has a specialized niche – large seeds, cactus fruits, etc. In the genus Geospiza, there are six species. ![]() There are four genera recognized in the group, and the species occupy overlapping but distinct ecological niches. The finches are proposed to have arrived on the volcanic islands from the South American mainland and are now considered part of the tanager family rather than the finch family. Let's watch a video developed by Howard Hughes Medical Institute based on data collected by Peter and Rosemary Grant, Princeton University. Darwin himself did not realize their role in explaining evolution until after ornithologists revealed the abundance of speciation to him. There are 13 species of finch on the islands, but they are at once both so similar and so diverse that they have provided a fertile ground for exploring evolution since Darwin’s 1835 visit. Let's start by watching a video developed by HHMI Biointeractive about this phenomenon. In the next few lessons we will investigate this case of pocket mice evolution using computational models. Researchers noticed that rock pocket mice with a dark fur coat were more common on the dark lava flows, whereas the mice with light colored fur coat were more common on the light-colored sand.
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