Description
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.
Chapter
Can G. scandens Be Ignored?
Why Is G. fuliginosa Absent?
Estimating Heritable Variation
GENOTYPE × ENVIRONMENT CORRELATION
Heritabilities: A Comparison of Species
4 Natural Selection and Evolution
CAUSES OF SELECTIVE MORTALITY
Evolution in Response to Selection
Selection Occurs Repeatedly
Selection Oscillates in Direction
Selection in Opposite Directions
5 Breeding Ecology and Fitness
ANNUAL VARIATION IN REPRODUCTION IN RELATION TO RAIN
Predicting Reproductive Success
THE CONTRIBUTION OF MORPHOLOGY TO FITNESS
THE CONTRIBUTION OF OFFSPRING TO PARENTAL FITNESS
PART 2: DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM PERSPECTIVE
6 A Potential Competitor Arrives on Daphne
FITNESS COSTS OF INBREEDING
LOSSES AND GAINS OF ALLELES
7 Competition and Character Displacement
Competition and Diet Overlap
Effects of Competition on Survival
THE CAUSAL ROLE OF G. MAGNIROSTRIS
High impact on food supply
Superior feeding efficiency on shared component of the diet
Parallel decline due to starvation
Key difference between 1977 and 2004
EVOLUTION OF A DISPLACED CHARACTER
G. FORTIS AND SCANDENS COMPARED
Frequency of Hybridization
A SCARCITY OF CONSPECIFIC MATES
PERTURBATION OF IMPRINTING
Fitness Consequences of Hybridization
The Mating Pattern of Hybrids
9 Variation and Introgression
Effects of Hybridization on Variation
COMPARISON OF G. FORTIS AND G. SCANDENS
Hybridization versus Mutation
PART 3: HYBRIDIZATION AND SPECIATION
10 LongTerm Trends in Hybridization
BLURRING OF GENETIC DISTINCTIONS
BLURRING OF MORPHOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS
Morphological Convergence
11 Long-Term Trends in Natural Selection
THE POSSIBLE ROLE OF SELECTION ON G. MAGNIROSTRIS
THE CAUSE OF THE BEAK-SIZE TREND
Natural and Artificial Selection
Morphological Transformation in Speciation
SPECIES THAT DIFFER IN SIZE
SPECIES THAT DIFFER IN SHAPE
Genetic Transformation in Speciation
Rapid Tempo of Speciation
A MECHANISM PRODUCING SONG DIVERGENCE
13 Speciation by Introgressive Hybridization
A Hybrid Arrives on Daphne
PHASE 1: THE START OF A NEW LINEAGE
The phenotypic uniqueness of 5110
PHASE II : GENERATIONS 1–3
PHASE III : ENDOGAMY AND REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION
Origin of Reproductive Isolation
Fate of the A Line of Descent
SUCCESS OF THE LINEAGE SO FAR
14 The Future of Finches on Daphne
The Past as Context of the Present
MERGEAND-DIVERGE DYNAMICS
The Present as a Guide to the Future
GLOBAL WARMING AND GALÁPAGOS
G. FORTIS, SCANDENS, AND FULIGINOSA
INVASIVE PLANT SPECIES AND DISEASE
Speciation, Selection, and Hybridization
ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF FOOD: THE DAPHNE PERSPECTIVE
BEHAVIORAL BARRIER TO INTERBREEDING
PHYLOGENETIC IMPLICATIONS OF HYBRIDIZATION
PREDICTABILITY AND EVOLVABILITY
THE SMALL POPULATION SYNDROME
THE MEDIUM POPULATION SYNDROME
THE SPECTER OF EXTINCTION, THE BIG UNKNOWN
Reflections on the Value of Long-Term Studies
LONG-TERM DYNAMICS OF A COLOR POLYMORPHISM
RARE EVENTS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES
Appendix 1.1 Daphne Plants
Appendix 1.2 Measurements of Finches
Appendix 1.3 Other Species of Darwin’s Finches
Appendix 3.1 Mapping Breeding Locations
Appendix 3.2 Annual Changes in Measurements
Appendix 5.1 Extra-pair Mating
Appendix 5.2 Visitors and Predation
Appendix 9.1 Variation and Mortality
Appendix 10.1 On the Dangers of Extrapolation
Appendix 11.1 Samples of Measurements for Selection Analyses
Appendix 13.1 Identification of Breeders
Appendix 17.1 Nestling Beak Color Polymorphism
40 Years of Evolution
：Darwin's Finches on Daphne Major Island
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