Darwins finches

views updated

Darwin's finches Fourteen species of Geospizinae that are endemic (see endemism) to the Galápagos Islands. There are only six species of all other passerine birds and one species of cuckoo on the islands. Thus it is inferred that an ancestor of the finches arrived on the islands before other birds and then underwent adaptive radiation. Each species has evolved a distinctive beak type, and feeds on food not eaten by the other species.

More From encyclopedia.com