Question

Darwin's Finches are an example of
A. Convergent evolution
B. Industrial mechanism
C. Connecting link
D. Adaptive radiation

Answer 1

Hint: Darwin's Finches are particularly suitable for asking evolutionary questions about how the processes happen and how to interpret them. All species of Darwin's finches were closely associated with each other, having derived recently (in geological terms) from a common ancestor.

Complete answer:
Darwin’s finches also referred to as Galapagos finches, these are many groups of species of Passerine Birds. They often are classified as of the subfamily Geospizinae. They were first collected by Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands during the second voyage of the Beagle. When he saw the birds, he found all of them belonged to the same species but had evolved differently due to their requirements of eating food or saving themselves. As they had adapted new features for their survival, they were referred to as adaptive radiation. Darwin's finches are examples of adaptive radiation and divergent evolution.
So, the right answer is Option D.( Adaptive radiation)
Additional Information:-
Darwin visited the Galapagos Islands. There he observed a vast diversity of creatures. Of particular interest, small blackbirds which were later called Darwin’s Finches amazed him. He realized that there were many varieties of finches on the same island. All the varieties, he came across, had evolved from that one island itself. From the original seed-eating features, many other forms with altered beaks evolved, enabling them to become insectivorous and vegetarian finches depending on the environmental situations they go through. This process of evolution of different species in a given geographical area starting from a point and radiating to other areas of geography (habitats) is called adaptive radiation. Darwin’s finches represent one of the best examples of this phenomenon. Another example is the Australian marsupials. A number of marsupials, found in the Australian Indian continent, were different from the others evolved from a common ancestral stock.

Note: When more than one adaptive radiation occurs in a particular geographical place, it is then referred to as convergent evolution. Such as the placental mammals of Australia, exhibits adaptive radiation which appears to be the same as the placental mammals which appear similar to the marsupials species.