Eddy Egan May 23, 2007

Tuliszewski Period /2
Page 414 #25-33

25. ~6mm, ~3%

26. A - 9.5mm, B - 14.5mm, C - 22mm
27. 15.5mm - 22mm
28. The longer the beak the smaller the seeds.

29. Do to the rock slide the smaller population might have a loss due to a lack of
genetic diversity. If descendents came from only a few birds then the diversity would
not be enough to sustain a normal ecosystem.

30. To test their hypothesis, the Grants first realized that Darwin’s hypothesis relied
on two testable assumptions. First, in order for beak size and shape to evolve, there
must be enough heritable variation in those traits to provide raw material for natural
selection. Second, differences in beak size and shape must produce differences in
fitness that cause natural selection to occur. So to test this they used a medium ground
finch on Daphne Major one of the Galapagos Islands. They collected data on
variation by catching birds, these variations were: wing length, leg length, beak
length, beak depth, beak color, feather colors, and total mass. These characteristics
then showed up on a bell shaped graph. Also, the Grants documented natural selection
in the wild and provided evidence of the process of evolution. This process showed
evolution to sometimes be a very rapid process. As this happened they strayed away
from Darwin’s hypothesis of evolution taking a long time to occur.

31. The limited resource of food would effect and organism greatly. In the first years
of the limited resource many organisms would die, those with higher fitness would
survive. Over time, evolution could play a key effect and make the organism suited to
acquire a different food source.

32. If you are not familiar with violets they are known to be edible. For a hungry
animal this may not be a good thing for a violet. To escape from predators the violets
may have changed the shape of their leaf over time to mimic that of another plant that
may not have a great taste or may be poisonous.

33. Evolution may be “Ecology of Time” by the fact that the definition of ecology is
“The study of the interactions of organisms with their environment and with each
other.” This corresponds with the many things that can undergo during evolution. If
an organism doesn’t interact well with its environment then evolution may occur to
allow the organism to adapt and having a better interaction.