Adaptive Radiation Remember Darwin’s Finches? What was Darwin’s theory about how they came to have different beak sizes? Adaptive Radiation…

Adaptive Radiation Darwin proposed that all the finches evolved from a single ancestral species Each island had a different physical environment, and unique plant species were dominant on each one Different plants produced seeds of different sizes, some large, some small Over time, the finches best-adapted for the available food on each island produced the most offspring, and became the dominant type in each location Due to the distance between the islands, the finches became isolated and no longer bred easily with finches on other islands, leading to distinct species, each with a unique beak size (Speciation) This evolutionary process is called Adaptive Radiation

Convergent Evolution Unrelated organisms, sometimes on different continents, appear to resemble one another quite closely, because of similarities in their NICHE...

Gradualism Slow, steady changes in the size and shape of bones…

Punctuated Equilibrium Some families display an evolutionary pattern of long, stable periods interrupted by brief periods of more rapid change.

Evolution of Birds Based on Fossil Evidence

Gradualism vs. Punctuated Equilibrium

What does the future hold for OUR species…?