Claim CB901.3:

Darwin's finches show only microevolution. In a long-term study, the changes were small and oscillated back and forth. They show no evidence for macroevolution.

Source:

Yahya, Harun, 2003. Darwinism Refuted, The true origin of species. http://www.darwinismrefuted.com/origin_of_species_02.html

Response:

  1. The extensive work on Darwin's finches done by the Grants shows in some detail how microevolution works, including details of transmutation and the power of natural selection (Weiner 1994). In the years that the Grants have been studying the finches, we would not expect to see macroevolution.

  2. Darwin's finches show a pattern of morphological differences that indicate that they all derived from a common ancestor. The difference between the woodpecker finch and the large ground finch are about as great as those within the whole finch family. Darwin's finches do not show macroevolution occurring, but they are evidence that it has occurred.

References:

  1. Weiner, J., 1994. (See below.)

Further Reading:

Weiner, Jonathan, 1994. The Beak of the Finch: A story of evolution in our time. New York: Knopf.

Grant, B. Rosemary and Peter R. Grant, 2003. What Darwin's finches can teach us about the evolutionary origin and regulation of biodiversity. BioScience 53(10): 965-975.

Grant, Peter R., 2002. Selected abstracts. http://www.eeb.princeton.edu/FACULTY/Grant_P/PRG_Abstracts.pdf

Kimball, John W., 2003. Speciation. http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/S/Speciation.html
Previous Claim: CB901.2   |   List of Claims   |   Next Claim: CB902
created 2003-8-27, modified 2004-9-15