Question

According to Darwin, the finches of Galapagos islands provide an evidence in favour of _______________.

Answer 1

The process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area from a common ancestor, adapted to new habitats and ways of life is called adaptive radiation.

Darwin observed many varieties of finches in Galapagos islands. They were similar to the mainland finch but had different kinds of beaks. On exploration, he found that the feeding habits were different among them. He realized that all the varieties have evolved from the original seed-eating bird. On various islands of Galapagos, finch species became adapted to efficiently feed on the food resources available like cactus, seeds, insects, etc. This, over a period of time, gave rise to different beak shapes and sizes and in turn several species of finches in the individual islands. So it supports adaptive radiation.


Theory of special creation was given by Father Suarez which states that life was created by God. Diversity has always been the same since creation and will be the same in future.

Hugo de Vries proposed mutation theory which states that mutations lead to evolution. Mutations are sudden, random, inheritable changes in DNA. But Darwin never believed in the sudden, random large changes, he proposed that the small changes accumulate in an organism selected by nature, pass to the subsequent generation and finally lead to evolution.

Theory of abiogenesis suggested that life originated from non-living substances. The theory was proposed by Greek philosophers.