From: Darwin's finches (also enlargement of the photo)

Darwin understood (after his homecoming) that species must have originated from other species. At a certain moment a couple of finches must have come to one of the islands and their descendants must have propagated themselves over the various islands of the Galapagos. In the islands they had developed themselves in different directions. There were insectivores with sharp bills, seed eaters with thick, strong bills, woodpeckerlike finches, ground finches, cactus eaters, etc. Every species was adapted to his environment. How this all had happened, Darwin didn't know yet, but the moment was approaching.

The researchers Rosemary and Peter Grant had spent much time at the Galapagos in order to measure the bills of the finches in the course of years. They found out that the thickness of the bills of seed eaters was increasing in meager years because then cracking hard seeds and nuts was the only way to survive. They observed evolution in action! Read the book 'The beak of the finch' by Jonathan Weiner. In it the research of the couple Grant is extensively described. The scheme on top is the supposed family tree of the Darwin finches at the Galapagos Islands. Know more? Darwin's finches

Darwin 21

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