The Evolving Debate
Normally I loath publishing verbatim other material from the Internet, but the following is significant enough that I wish to save you the trouble of going to the source.
Finches on Galapagos Islands evolving
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer
Thu Jul 13, 9:17 PM ET
Finches on the Galapagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin to develop the concept of evolution are now helping confirm it — by evolving.
A medium sized species of Darwin's finch has evolved a smaller beak to take advantage of different seeds just two decades after the arrival of a larger rival for its original food source.
The altered beak size shows that species competing for food can undergo evolutionary change, said Peter Grant of Princeton University, lead author of the report appearing in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Grant has been studying Darwin's finches for decades and previously recorded changes responding to a drought that altered what foods were available.
It's rare for scientists to be able to document changes in the appearance of an animal in response to competition. More often it is seen when something moves into a new habitat or the climate changes and it has to find new food or resources, explained Robert C. Fleischer, a geneticist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and National Zoo.
This was certainly a documented case of microevolution, added Fleischer, who was not part of Grant's research.
Grant studied the finches on the Galapagos island Daphne, where the medium ground finch, Geospiza fortis, faced no competition for food, eating both small and large seeds.
In 1982 a breeding population of large ground finches, Geospiza magnirostris, arrived on the island and began competing for the large seeds of the Tribulus plants. G. magnirostris was able to break open and eat these seeds three times faster than G. fortis, depleting the supply of these seeds.
In 2003 and 2004 little rain fell, further reducing the food supply. The result was high mortality among G. fortis with larger beaks, leaving a breeding population of small-beaked G. fortis that could eat the seeds from smaller plants and didn't have to compete with the larger G. magnirostris for large seeds.
That's a form of evolution known as character displacement, where natural selection produces an evolutionary change in the next generation, Grant explained in a recorded statement made available by Science.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.
This reminds me of a study from a few decades ago that tracked changes in moth populations in the United Kingdom. Admittedly a less formal study than this with the finches, it nonetheless clearly showed the advantages of species evolution. Lighter-color moths predominated in the study area until industrial pollution darkened walls, trees, and other surfaces favored by the moths. This meant that lighter-color moths stood out more easily to predators. Circumstances favored darker-colored moths and so that variation predominated ... survival of the species. Observers noted the change back to nature favoring the lighter-color as pollution was cleaned up.
All in all, I don't see why Evolution can't be part of God's plan. The theory provides a convenient mechanism to explain a number of things. Rather than fight it, there should be a way for Christians to reconcile it with our faith.
Finches on Galapagos Islands evolving
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer
Thu Jul 13, 9:17 PM ET
Finches on the Galapagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin to develop the concept of evolution are now helping confirm it — by evolving.
A medium sized species of Darwin's finch has evolved a smaller beak to take advantage of different seeds just two decades after the arrival of a larger rival for its original food source.
The altered beak size shows that species competing for food can undergo evolutionary change, said Peter Grant of Princeton University, lead author of the report appearing in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
Grant has been studying Darwin's finches for decades and previously recorded changes responding to a drought that altered what foods were available.
It's rare for scientists to be able to document changes in the appearance of an animal in response to competition. More often it is seen when something moves into a new habitat or the climate changes and it has to find new food or resources, explained Robert C. Fleischer, a geneticist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and National Zoo.
This was certainly a documented case of microevolution, added Fleischer, who was not part of Grant's research.
Grant studied the finches on the Galapagos island Daphne, where the medium ground finch, Geospiza fortis, faced no competition for food, eating both small and large seeds.
In 1982 a breeding population of large ground finches, Geospiza magnirostris, arrived on the island and began competing for the large seeds of the Tribulus plants. G. magnirostris was able to break open and eat these seeds three times faster than G. fortis, depleting the supply of these seeds.
In 2003 and 2004 little rain fell, further reducing the food supply. The result was high mortality among G. fortis with larger beaks, leaving a breeding population of small-beaked G. fortis that could eat the seeds from smaller plants and didn't have to compete with the larger G. magnirostris for large seeds.
That's a form of evolution known as character displacement, where natural selection produces an evolutionary change in the next generation, Grant explained in a recorded statement made available by Science.
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation.
# # #
This reminds me of a study from a few decades ago that tracked changes in moth populations in the United Kingdom. Admittedly a less formal study than this with the finches, it nonetheless clearly showed the advantages of species evolution. Lighter-color moths predominated in the study area until industrial pollution darkened walls, trees, and other surfaces favored by the moths. This meant that lighter-color moths stood out more easily to predators. Circumstances favored darker-colored moths and so that variation predominated ... survival of the species. Observers noted the change back to nature favoring the lighter-color as pollution was cleaned up.
All in all, I don't see why Evolution can't be part of God's plan. The theory provides a convenient mechanism to explain a number of things. Rather than fight it, there should be a way for Christians to reconcile it with our faith.
posted by CC Hunt | 8:57 AM
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