Lab 1 ANTH 1200

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Anthropology

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Dec 6, 2023

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LAB 1 - ANTH 1200 Human Origins/Biological Anthropology The documentary, What Darwin Never Saw features the work of an evolutionary biologist couple, Peter and Rosemary Grant. It documents the process of natural selection operating on Darwin’s finches. Answer the following questions during and after you watch the film. Use complete sentences. Use an additional page as needed. 1. How many years have the Grants studied the “Darwin Finches?” The Grants have studied Darwin Finches for 22 years. 2. Why was it important to ensure that nothing was brought onto the island from the “outside?” It was significant that nothing was brought onto the Island from the outside because the foreign objects/substance could be disastrous to the finches and most importantly their field study. 3. The Grants point out that the finches on Daphne Major, the Galapagos Island where they conducted their research, are not afraid of humans. How can this be good and bad? The fact that the finches on the Galapagos Islands aren’t afraid of humans could be proven to cause a major positive impact on the Grant’s research. For one, the Grants have a chance to study them freely and extensively without having to worry about them flying away to different locations on the island. Two, it serves as a great avenue for the Grants to build a wonderful relationship with the birds. The only disadvantage I could think of to the finches not being afraid of humans, would be their constant surveillance of the Grants and trying to eat off their food while they ate. 4. How many different species of Darwin’s finches inhabit the Galapagos Islands, and what is one of the most obvious ways in which the species differ? There are thirteen species of Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos Islands as of the time the video was published in 2014. The different species of finches differ according to the appearance of their beaks. No two specie of finches possess the same type of beak. In essence, the thirteen finches all have different variations of beaks. 5. The Grants had three questions they were trying to answer by studying the finches. What were two of them? One, the question of whether species compete and two, the question of how species are formed.

6. In 1977 there was a severe drought on Daphne Major Island. Which type of bird was able to survive and reproduce in the aftermath of the drought on the food supply? Why? During the drought of 1977, the larger beak ground finch birds survived at a higher rate when compared to the smaller beak ground finches. This was as a result of the larger beak ground bird’s ability to crack the large and hard fruit seed that was left on the island. The drought of the 1977 could be regarded as a natural selection event where the larger sized finches had a competitive edge over the smaller ones. This event led to a discovery that natural selection operates under stressful conditions and that size does make a difference whether an organism survives or not. 7. There was a severe El Nino event in the Galapagos in 1982-83. How did this event influence the ground finches on Daphne? The larger ground finches were not able to thrive as much as they did during the drought of 1977. Thus, they became greatly affected by this natural event and died in greater amounts compared to the smaller ground finches. The El Nino event can be viewed as another natural selection event favoring the survival of the smaller ground finches and pushing the ground finches to becoming a smaller species. 8. What does the movie’s title mean? The movie title to me presents an idea that wasn’t explored by Charles Darwin. Contrary to his believes that the effect of evolution occurs over centuries, the Grants in this documentary refute Darwin’s claims and assert towards to the end of the documentary that evolution can be studied and be observed within a relatively short period of time such as a month or two years. In addition, Darwin didn’t discover as the Grants did, that there is a tendency for species to shift in size in one direction and be reversed in another direction when a change in a climatic condition is observed and environmental circumstances change. 9. With regard to the trait beak size in medium ground finches, which trait is more adaptive after a drought? Which trait is more adaptive after heavy rains? After a drought like the drought of 1977, the medium ground finches are more than likely through the process of natural selection to adapt and grow/evolve into larger ground finches. While after an event of a heavy rain like that of El Nino, the medium ground finches are more than likely through the process of natural selection to adapt and grow/evolve into smaller ground finches. Ultimately, this process of adaption occurs to ensure an increase in the survival rate of the ground finch birds.

10. If the environment remained unchanged for a few years, and there were no climatic extremes such as severe drought or rainfall, would you expect beak size to change over time in the medium ground finches? Explain? I would not expect the beak size to change over time in the medium ground finches if the conditions of the islands remain at a constant. As we can see from the video, the beaks of the medium ground finches only showed a drastic change in evolution during the occurrence of climatic extremes. Without the presence of it, I highly doubt the expectance of a change in the beak size of the medium ground finches.

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Lab 1 ANTH 1200

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