- 24 Nov 2017 17:10
#14865438
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in...
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42103058
Nice.
While speciation has been observed in the lab many times, this is the first time it has been observed in the wild.
It is now undeniable that evolution is a fact, and that this fact can be explained through Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
Also, sounds like a sweet job. Bird watching in the tropics.
- A population of finches on the Galapagos has been discovered in the process of becoming a new species.
This is the first example of speciation that scientists have been able to observe directly in the field.
Researchers followed the entire population of finches on a tiny Galapagos island called Daphne Major, for many years, and so they were able to watch the speciation in progress.
The research was published in the journal Science.
The group of finch species to which the Big Bird population belongs are collectively known as Darwin's finches and helped Charles Darwin to uncover the process of evolution by natural selection.
In 1981, the researchers noticed the arrival of a male of a non-native species, the large cactus finch.
Professors Rosemary and Peter Grant noticed that this male proceeded to mate with a female of one of the local species, a medium ground finch, producing fertile young.
Almost 40 years later, the progeny of that original mating are still being observed, and number around 30 individuals.
"It's an extreme case of something we're coming to realise more generally over the years. Evolution in general can happen very quickly," said Prof Roger Butlin, a speciation expert who wasn't involved in the study.
....
Nice.
While speciation has been observed in the lab many times, this is the first time it has been observed in the wild.
It is now undeniable that evolution is a fact, and that this fact can be explained through Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
Also, sounds like a sweet job. Bird watching in the tropics.
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in...