Bird gets lost at sea, accidentally spawns an entire new species on a remote island

[Suppressed]

Bird gets lost at sea, accidentally spawns an entire new species on a remote island

Mike Wehner  @MikeWehner
November 24th, 2017 at 4:00 PM
http://bgr.com/2017/11/24/bird-evolution-galapagos-islands-darwins-finches/

[...]

Over the past 36 years, scientists have been closely studying the incredible story of an entirely new bird species that seemingly came out of nowhere, and it all started with one poor finch who lost his way. The peculiar tale takes place on a remote island in the Galapagos chain tucked away in the Pacific Ocean, and it’s helping scientists to understand how new species can form much faster than we typically imagine.

[...]

After reaching maturity, the new Big Birds attempted to find mates of their own only to be met with a big problem. The hybrid birds couldn’t replicate the song of the native finches, and that, combined with their difference in size, prevented them from attracting mates. What they did manage to attract was each other, and interbreeding resulted in more and more Big Birds on the island. Now, six generations later, the hybrids are their very own established species.

The original “lost” male was eventually identified as a cactus finch that had originated on a neighboring island over 60 miles away, but the new species is now an entirely unique animal. The assumption that it takes long stretches of time to create new species has been tossed out the window, and the ongoing study of the Big Birds revealed that it takes as little as two generations for an entirely new species to take root.

[DB]

I guess that science wasn't all that settled...

[Cripplecreek]

The assumption that it takes long stretches of time to create new species has been tossed out the window

I'm not sure who makes this assumption but its a fairly minor change over 6 generations. After all its not really a new species but could be classified as a subspecies. Garter snakes are a beautiful example of ever shifting diversity among the various subspecies of garter snakes but at the end of the day they're still just garter snakes. Isolation and contact can be drivers of change within species along with a whole range of other factors.

I was born in 1964 and at 5 feet 9 inches I am about dead on average height for my generation yet Americans born within the last 20 years are at least 2 inches taller on average. Asians are dramatically larger than they were 2 or 3 generations ago.

[Gefn]

Yay for birds- except if you're a statue

[Suppressed]

I was born in 1964 and at 5 feet 9 inches I am about dead on average height for my generation yet Americans born within the last 20 years are at least 2 inches taller on average. Asians are dramatically larger than they were 2 or 3 generations ago.

Environmental factors are different from genetics.

[Sanguine]

I guess that science wasn't all that settled...

Science is never settled. If it is, it ain't science.

[ConstitutionRose]

I was born in 1964 and at 5 feet 9 inches I am about dead on average height for my generation yet Americans born within the last 20 years are at least 2 inches taller on average. Asians are dramatically larger than they were 2 or 3 generations ago.

There is a shop that sells women's foundation garments in New York.  Been there since before World War II.  From their sales documents, a study has confirmed that American women are increasing in chest size every decade (even without surgery).  My parents are taller than their parents.  I am taller than my parents and my children are way taller than I am.  Two-thirds of my grandchildren are taller than their parents (one tiny little throwback in the bunch).  I don't know whether that is environment or somehow selecting for the taller and stronger from the genetic pool.

[Sanguine]

North Koreans are shorter than South Koreans.

[truth_seeker]

Environmental factors are different from genetics.

I have recently learned the field of "epigenetics" studies the impact of environment, which can change genetics over time.

IOW they seem to be interrelated.

It will be interesting to learn what caused Asians to have higher IQs than whites, for example. 

[roamer_1]

Over the past 36 years, scientists have been closely studying the incredible story of an entirely new bird species that seemingly came out of nowhere, and it all started with one poor finch who lost his way.

Ummm, no... ONE poor finch would die a bachelor.

[Sanguine]

Ummm, no... ONE poor finch would die a bachelor.

No, he met some ladies once he got there. 

[dfwgator]

Have you heard about the bird?

[roamer_1]

No, he met some ladies once he got there.

I doubt very much that it was ONE. But I do agree with the general premise - that the only evident and provable sort of evolution (within a kind) can and does happen very quickly.

[GtHawk]

Yay for birds- except if you're a statue

Under the current climate, birds may have a tough time finding a statue.

[Fishrrman]

How many "Hispanics" existed before Columbus discovered the New World in 1492?

Yet today, Hispanic is a widely-recognized ethnic categorization -- the mixture/melding of South and Central American Indians with European Spaniards.

I proffer that this is -human- evolution at work -- the emergence of a new sub-racial group of humans over the last 500+ years.

[Sanguine]

Wasn't Columbus Hispanic? 

[Joe Wooten]

Wasn't Columbus Hispanic?

Eyetalian

[Sanguine]

Eyetalian

Actually, I don't think we know for sure where Columbus was from.  But, his bosses were Hispanic.

[Joe Wooten]

Actually, I don't think we know for sure where Columbus was from.  But, his bosses were Hispanic.

He was born in Genoa to a Genoese family. Back then it was an independent republic, now it is part of Italy. That is not open for debate, it is established fact. Some Spanish patriots try to claim he was born in Spain, but they are swimming upstream.