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

Question

Biology

Landen

29 January, 05:27

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

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Larissa · Answer 1

The medium ground finches with smaller beaks will gradually fade of the entire population.

Explanation:

If a population of medium finches in which some members survive better as a result of being able to crack Tribulus cistoides fruits with their large, deep beaks colonizes a nearby island in which the fruit is the primary food round the year, one would certainly expect member without large, deep beaks to gradually fade off the population.

Natural selection will automatically select for members of the population that are better adapted to the environment while those that are less adapted are considered weak and gradually die off the population.

FInches that are better adapted to the environment seek out each other for reproduction and are able to contribute more to succesive generation unlike those that are poorly adapted. This is otherwise known as the survival of the fitest.