In the 1830's, Charles Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands, and discovered a species of birds that was later named after him. These birds are called Darwin's Finches, and they are a very good example of something called Natural Selection. There are 14 main types of finches if the House Finch is included that have reproduced and created what could be called 'sub-groups' of their species, and they are classified in 4 main types of beak shape and structure. The types of beaks are:
Great amounts of money have been spent into trying to find the ancestors of this bird, its origin, how many different species there are, the birds diet, habitat and more. The reason that this bird is very interesting to scientists is because it evolved from 1 type of bird to so many different types, and it has adapted to its habitat over only a few hundred years, while usually it takes centuries for a species to fully adapt.
- Probing beaks
- Parrot-like beaks
- Grasping beaks
- Crushing beaks
Great amounts of money have been spent into trying to find the ancestors of this bird, its origin, how many different species there are, the birds diet, habitat and more. The reason that this bird is very interesting to scientists is because it evolved from 1 type of bird to so many different types, and it has adapted to its habitat over only a few hundred years, while usually it takes centuries for a species to fully adapt.