NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Because the drought reduced the number of seeds and finches with bigger beaks were able to eat the larger and harder seeds so more of them survived.

Detailed explanation-2: -Genetic variants of the HMGA2 gene controls beak size in the birds, evolutionary geneticist Leif Andersson and colleagues now report. Large-beak varieties of the gene were at a strong disadvantage during the drought, the researchers found.

Detailed explanation-3: -On the Galápagos, finches evolved based on different food sources-long, pointed beaks served well for snatching insects while broad, blunt beaks work best for cracking seeds and nuts.

Detailed explanation-4: -1: Darwin’s Finches: Darwin observed that beak shape varies among finch species. He postulated that the beak of an ancestral species had adapted over time to equip the finches to acquire different food sources.