Evolution in action
Engelsk resumé af Jonas F. Jensen og Rasmus Aagaard.
The article "Evolution in action, by Darwin's finches" by Bob Holmes, presents the research of Peter and Rosemary Grant, who are evolutionary biologists at Prinecton University. They have observed a complete evolutionary change in beaks of Darwin's finches.
The observations were conducted over a period of approximately thirty years on the small isle of Daphne Major. Among other things they discover that during a drought in 1977, the primary source of food for the finches was reduced, and the beaks of the finches evolved to fit the remaining sources of available food. They have observed similar changes among other finches throughout other droughts. This is the first time someone has observed and documented a evolutionary change through the means of natural selection. Andrew Hendry comments that this is a single observation, and that it is not enough to prove the theory of evoluion.
