Darwin’s finches in the Galápagos archipelago provide an iconic model for the evolution of biodiversity on earth due to natural selection. A team of scientists from Princeton University and Uppsala University now reports that they have observed the origin of a new species using sequencing at the SciLifeLab National Genomics Infrastructure. The results show that the new lineage was formed by the hybridization of two different species of Darwin’s finches. The study is published in Science magazine.

Direct observation of the origin of a new putative species occurred during field work carried out by Rosemary and Peter Grant, Princeton University, on the small island of Daphne Major for 40 consecutive years. In 1981 they observed an immigrant male that sang an unusual song and differed in size from all resident species on the island. The male bred with a resident medium ground finch female and thereby initiated a new lineage which they named the Big Bird lineage. They followed the new lineage for 6 generations over 30 years. DNA sequence data now reveal that the immigrant male was a large cactus finch. Remarkably, it must have flown to Daphne from Española Island, which is more than 100 km to the southeast.

All 18 species of Darwin’s finches have been derived from a single ancestral species that colonized the Galápagos 1-2 million years ago. They have diversified into different species, and changes in beak morphology in particular have allowed different species to utilize different food sources on the Galápagos. Thus, another critical requirement for speciation to occur through hybridization is the new lineage must be ecologically competitive, and this has been the case for the Big Bird lineage.

‘The interesting aspect of this study is that a hybridization between two distinct species led to the development of a new lineage that after only two generations behaved as any other species of Darwin’s finches. If a naturalist had come to Daphne Major island without knowing that this lineage arose very recently it would have been recognized as one of the four species on the island. This clearly demonstrates the value of long-running field studies’, says Leif Andersson (Uppsala University/SciLifeLab, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Texas A&M University).

Read the full press release by Uppsala University

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Ok!Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.