NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Key factors in their evolutionary diversification are environmental change, natural selection, and cultural evolution. A long-term study of finch populations on the island of Daphne Major has revealed that evolution occurs by natural selection when the finches’ food supply changes during droughts.

Detailed explanation-2: -“Now we can safely conclude that interspecies hybridization has played a critical role in the evolution of the finches, and has contributed to maintaining their genetic diversity, ” said Dr. Peter Grant.

Detailed explanation-3: -The variations in beak size occur due to the changes in the genome of the finches. As a consequence, finches that are well adapted to changing environmental conditions are selected by nature, undergo mutations in their genome, can interbreed, and form new species that are radiated from the original species.

Detailed explanation-4: -We show that Darwin’s finches on a Galapagos island underwent two evolutionary changes after a severe El Nino event caused changes in their food supply. Small beak sizes were selectively favoured in one granivorous species when large seeds became scarce.