Finch

Dr. Wells dissects some recent hype over Darwin’s finches, an icon of evolution that just won’t stay buried.

Taking the facts and arguments presented together, it appears to be clear that no macroevolution is happening in “Darwin’s finches.”

The authors offer a selectionist explanation, which is nevertheless uncertain. Note the repeated use of the subjunctive.

This is by no means an all-or-nothing selection (as the impression is sometimes given). Rather, the alleles are retained.

They are not, per the National Academy of Sciences, a “particularly convincing example for speciation.”

Scientific data are followed by the myth: “Finch beak morphology observed on the Galápagos Islands was used by Darwin to formulate his theory of evolution.”

How could the authors suddenly do this? Some of the following points may be considered.

In a series of posts starting today, I offer some notes on the question of whether macroevolution is happening on the Galápagos Islands.

Of course finches don’t multiply and cycle through generations as rapidly as bacteria. Still, these birds have been isolated on the iconic islands for some 2 million years.

Finches on another island “would leave even Charles Darwin scratching his head.” But do they “help solve an evolutionary puzzle”?

Another paper regurgitates a myth that was thoroughly debunked by Jonathan Wells in Zombie Science.

What can bacteria collected around a university campus tell us about adaptive radiation?