Adaptive_radiation
Evolution on island groups
Species that colonize island archipelagos exhibit a specific property known as adaptive radiation.
In this process, a species that arrives on a group of islands rapidly becomes more diverse over time, splitting off into new species or subspecies. A species that reaches an island ecosystem may face little competition for resources, or may find that the resources that they found in their previous habitat are not available. These factors together result in individual evolutionary branches with different means of survival.[29]
The classical example of this is Darwin's finches, a group of up to fifteen tanager species that are endemic to the Galápagos Islands.[30] These birds evolved different beaks in order to eat different kinds of food available on the islands. The large ground finch has a large bill used to crack seeds and eat fruit. The Genovesa cactus finch prefers cacti as a food source, and has a beak adapted for removing pulp and flowers from cacti. The green warbler-finch (in the habit of true warbler species) consumes spiders and insects that live on plants.[29] Other examples of this phenomenon exist worldwide, including in Hawaii and Madagascar, and are not limited to island ecosystems.[29]
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Wednesday, September 09, 2026 11:14AM