After the drought of 1977, researchers on the island of Daphne Major hypothesized that medium ground finches that had large, deep beaks survived better than those with smaller beaks because they could more easily crack and eat the tough Tribulus cistoides fruits. If this hypothesis is correct, what would you expect to observe if a population of these medium ground finches colonizes a nearby island where T. cistoides is the most abundant food for the next 1000 years?

Question

Biology

Abigail Cooper

7 October, 23:41

After the drought of 1977, researchers on the island of Daphne Major hypothesized that medium ground finches that had large, deep beaks survived better than those with smaller beaks because they could more easily crack and eat the tough Tribulus cistoides fruits. If this hypothesis is correct, what would you expect to observe if a population of these medium ground finches colonizes a nearby island where T. cistoides is the most abundant food for the next 1000 years?

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Paige · Answer 1

If a population of medium ground finches with large, deep beaks colonizes a nearby island where Tribulus cistoides is the most abundant food for the next 1000 years, it is expected that this finches population will dominate de island, displacing the smaller beaked birds.

Explanation:

Since large seeds will be available for the next 1000 years as the most abundant food, only birds with large beaks will be able to eat them. Smaller beaked birds won't be able to feed on them, and eventually, they will starve because they won't have any food. In this way, the finch population will rapidly change on the new island in favor of the medium ground finches with large, deep beaks.