Darwin’s finches have different beaks in terms of size and shape to be able to eat different food sources like insects, nectar, and seeds. Cactus finches have longer, more pointed beaks to probe cactus flowers compared to their relatives, the ground finches. If a plant disease killed a large portion of the cacti on the Galapagos islands, what would the future populations of finches look like in terms of beak size and shape? Use your knowledge of natural selection to determine which option is most likely. Ground finches would survive and pass on their shorter and wider beaks, so there would be a higher proportion of finches in future generations that have short and wide beaks. Ground finches would survive and pass on their beaks, but they would mate with the remaining cactus finches, creating a new hybrid that is somewhere between short versus long and narrow versus wide. Cactus finches would compete for food with ground finches and exhibit resource partitioning, so the beaks of future generations would not change. Cactus finches would compete for food with ground finches and exhibit competitive exclusion, so the beaks of future generations would be similar to whichever finch outcompetes the other.

Biology: The Dynamic Science (MindTap Course List)
4th Edition
ISBN:9781305389892
Author:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan
Publisher:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillan
Chapter21: Microevolution: Genetic Changes Within Populations
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 1ITD: Peter and Rosemary Grant of Princeton University have studied the ecology and evolution of finches...
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Darwin’s finches have different beaks in terms of size and shape to be able to eat different food sources like insects, nectar, and seeds. Cactus finches have longer, more pointed beaks to probe cactus flowers compared to their relatives, the ground finches.

If a plant disease killed a large portion of the cacti on the Galapagos islands, what would the future populations of finches look like in terms of beak size and shape? Use your knowledge of natural selection to determine which option is most likely.

  • Ground finches would survive and pass on their shorter and wider beaks, so there would be a higher proportion of finches in future generations that have short and wide beaks.
  • Ground finches would survive and pass on their beaks, but they would mate with the remaining cactus finches, creating a new hybrid that is somewhere between short versus long and narrow versus wide.
  • Cactus finches would compete for food with ground finches and exhibit resource partitioning, so the beaks of future generations would not change.
  • Cactus finches would compete for food with ground finches and exhibit competitive exclusion, so the beaks of future generations would be similar to whichever finch outcompetes the other.

 

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