Biology essay

Biology assignment

Part A: Darwin's finches

1. Aspects of evolution involved in Darwin's Finches

When Charles Darwin first stepped ashore on the Galapagos Islands in September 1835, it was the beginning of the greatest biological discovery of all time; five weeks that he spent on those islands were possibly one of the greatest achievements of science, although he did not know it at the time. Among the myriad of other discoveries, he observed and collected the numerous varieties of small birds that inhabited the islands, but at the time he had not realized their significance, and unfortunately did not keep good records of his specimens and where they were specifically collected. It was not until he had returned to England, puzzling over the birds, that he realized that they were all different, but however closely related, species of finch this was one of the defining studies that led him towards the formulation of the principles of natural selection.

In Darwin's memoirs, The Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin noted, amazed at the depth of speciation on the Galapagos Islands, "One might really fancy that, from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends."(1)

Indeed, the Galapagos had been a living laboratory where speciation could be seen in action for quite some while. A couple of million years ago, one species of finch had migrated to the rocky Galapagos from the mainland of South America. From an origin of one migrant species would come many other species of finches; at least 13 species of finch evolving from the single ancestor species.

The process in which a species develop into multiple species that exploit separate niches is called adaptive radiation. The ecologica...

... middle of paper ...

...y so as to gain ground from rabbits that have good resistance to virus, this could be increased by connecting the mortality rate of the level I strain while adding the viral longevity of the level III or IV strains so as to increase viral spread. The once considered simple myxoma virus is now known to what it truly is; a complex and unique virus with the ability to not only cull pest populations but also a future medical career in which it has the potential to save thousands of lives, its effective domestication is still reaping humanity massive rewards and will continue. With the introduction of genetic engineering it can still have the potential to help eradicate the feral rabbit population and assist Australian agriculture, we have barely scratched the surface of this amazing virus and what is the great terror of the rabbits may now be the great hope of humanity.