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Galapagos Finches
Darwin's finches (also known as the Galápagos finches) are a group of about 18 species of passerine birds. They are well known for their remarkable diversity in beak form and function. They are often classified as the subfamily Geospizinae or tribe (biology), tribe Geospizini. They belong to the Thraupidae, tanager Family (biology), family and are not closely related to the true finches. The closest known relative of the Galápagos finches is the South American ''Dull-coloured grassquit, Tiaris obscurus''. They were first collected when Second voyage of HMS Beagle, the second voyage of the ''Beagle'' visited the Galápagos Islands, with Charles Darwin on board as a gentleman naturalist. Apart from the Cocos finch, which is from Cocos Island, the others are found only on the Galápagos Islands. The term "Darwin's finches" was first applied by Percy Lowe in 1936, and popularised in 1947 by David Lack in his book ''Darwin's Finches''. Lack based his analysis on the large collectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Large Ground Finch
The large ground finch (''Geospiza magnirostris'') is a species of bird. One of Darwin's finches, it is now placed in the family Thraupidae and was formerly in the Emberizidae. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ... to the Galapagos Islands, and is found in the arid zone of most of the archipelago, though it is absent from the southeastern islands ( Floreana, Española, San Cristóbal, and Santa Fé). It is the largest species of Darwin's finch both in total size and size of beak. It has a large, short beak for cracking nuts to get food. Gallery File:Large ground finch (4229044630).jpg, left, Large ground finch File:Geospiza magnirostris.jpg, left, One of Darwin's finches. Charles and Chatham Islands, Galapagos Archipelago. References Geospiza ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tribe (biology)
In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank above genus, but below family and subfamily. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes. By convention, all taxonomic ranks from genus upwards are capitalized, including both tribe and subtribe. In zoology, the standard ending for the name of a zoological tribe is "-ini". Examples include the tribes Caprini (goat-antelopes), Hominini (hominins), Bombini (bumblebees), and Thunnini (tunas). The tribe Hominini is divided into subtribes by some scientists; subtribe Hominina then comprises "humans". The standard ending for the name of a zoological subtribe is "-ina". In botany, the standard ending for the name of a botanical tribe is "-eae". Examples include the tribes Acalypheae and Hyacintheae. The tribe Hyacintheae is divided into subtribes, including the subtribe Massoniinae. The standard ending for the name of a botanical subtribe is "-inae". In bacteriology, the form of tribe names is as in botany, e.g., Pseudomonadeae, based on the ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adaptation
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the population during that process. Thirdly, it is a phenotypic trait or adaptive trait, with a functional role in each individual organism, that is maintained and has evolved through natural selection. Historically, adaptation has been described from the time of the ancient Greek philosophers such as Empedocles and Aristotle. In 18th and 19th century natural theology, adaptation was taken as evidence for the existence of a deity. Charles Darwin proposed instead that it was explained by natural selection. Adaptation is related to biological fitness, which governs the rate of evolution as measured by change in allele frequencies. Often, two or more species co-adapt and co-evolve as they develop adaptations that interlock with those of the oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vegetarian Finch
The vegetarian finch (''Platyspiza crassirostris'') is a species of bird in the Darwin's finch group of the tanager family Thraupidae endemic to the Galápagos Islands. It is the only member of the genus ''Platyspiza.'' Taxonomy The vegetarian finch is one of Darwin's finches, a group of closely related birds that evolved on the Galápagos Islands. The group is related to the yellow-faced grassquit (''Tiaris olivaceus'') which is found in South and Central America and the Caribbean. An ancestral relative of the grassquit arrived on the Galápagos Islands some 2–3 million years ago, and the vegetarian finch is an early evolutionary radiation from that ancestor. When Darwin first collected the species in 1835, he assumed it was a finch. John Gould, who formally described the vegetarian finch in 1837, placed it in a new genus ''Camarhynchus'' and coined the binomial name ''Camarhynchus crassirostris''. The vegetarian finch is now placed in the genus ''Platyspiza'' that was intr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warbler-finch
The warbler-finches are a genus ''Certhidea'' of birds in the tanager family Thraupidae that are endemic to the Galápagos Islands. Together with related genera, they are collectively known as Darwin's finches. The two species were formerly considered to be conspecific; however, they have different songs, prefer different habitats, and are located in different areas on the islands. Taxonomy and species list The genus ''Certhidea'' was introduced in 1837 by the English ornithologist John Gould with the green warbler-finch as the type species. The name is a Latin diminutive of the genus ''Certhia'' introduced by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 for the treecreepers. The members of the genus form part of a group collectively known as Darwin's finches. Although traditionally placed with the buntings and New World sparrows in the family Emberizidae, molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that Darwin's finches are members of the subfamily Coerebinae within the tanager family Thraupidae Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Lack
David Lambert Lack FRS (16 July 1910 – 12 March 1973) was a British evolutionary biologist who made contributions to ornithology, ecology, and ethology. His 1947 book, ''Darwin's Finches'', on the finches of the Galapagos Islands was a landmark work as were his other popular science books on ''Life of the Robin'' and ''Swifts in a Tower''. He developed what is now known as Lack's Principle which explained the evolution of avian clutch sizes in terms of individual selection as opposed to the competing contemporary idea that they had evolved for the benefit of species (also known as group selection). His pioneering life-history studies of the living bird helped in changing the nature of ornithology from what was then a collection-oriented field. He was a longtime director of the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology at the University of Oxford. Education and early life Lack was born in London, the oldest of four children of Harry Lambert Lack MD FRCS, who later became Pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
