40 Years of Evolution : Darwin's Finches on Daphne Major Island / Peter R. Grant, B. Rosemary Grant.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Grant, Peter R., author.

Grant, B. Rosemary, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bird populations--Galapagos Islands.

Bird populations.

Birds--Evolution--Galapagos Islands.

Birds.

Ground finches--Evolution--Galapagos Islands.

Ground finches.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (433 pages) : colour illustrations, maps.

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Renowned evolutionary biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have produced landmark studies of the Galápagos finches first made famous by Charles Darwin. In How and Why Species Multiply, they offered a complete evolutionary history of Darwin's finches since their origin almost three million years ago. Now, in their richly illustrated new book, 40 Years of Evolution, the authors turn their attention to events taking place on a contemporary scale. By continuously tracking finch populations over a period of four decades, they uncover the causes and consequences of significant events leading to evolutionary changes in species.The authors used a vast and unparalleled range of ecological, behavioral, and genetic data--including song recordings, DNA analyses, and feeding and breeding behavior--to measure changes in finch populations on the small island of Daphne Major in the Galápagos archipelago. They find that natural selection happens repeatedly, that finches hybridize and exchange genes rarely, and that they compete for scarce food in times of drought, with the remarkable result that the finch populations today differ significantly in average beak size and shape from those of forty years ago. The authors' most spectacular discovery is the initiation and establishment of a new lineage that now behaves as a new species, differing from others in size, song, and other characteristics. The authors emphasize the immeasurable value of continuous long-term studies of natural populations and of critical opportunities for detecting and understanding rare but significant events.By following the fates of finches for several generations, 40 Years of Evolution offers unparalleled insights into ecological and evolutionary changes in natural environments.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Tables

Boxes

Preface

PART 1. Early Problems, Early Solutions

1. Speciation, Adaptive Radiation, And Evolution

2. Daphne Finches: A Question of Size

3. Heritable Variation

4. Natural Selection And Evolution

5. Breeding Ecology And Fitness

PART 2. Developing a Long-Term Perspective

6. A Potential Competitor Arrives on Daphne

7. Competition and Character Displacement

8. Hybridization

9. Variation and Introgression

PART 3. Hybridization and Speciation

10. Long-Term Trends in Hybridization

11. Long-Term Trends in Natural Selection

12. Speciation

13. Speciation by Introgressive Hybridization

PART 4. Syntheses

14. The Future of Finches on Daphne

15. Themes and Issues

16. Generalization

17. Epilogue

Coda

Appendixes

Abbreviations

Glossary

References

Subject Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 353-387) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9781400851300

1400851300

OCLC:

870597475