Question

The finches of Galapagos islands provide evidence in favour of:
(A) Evolution due to mutation
(B) Retrogressive evolution
(C) Biogeographical evolution
(D) Special creation

Answer 1

Hint: Natural selection, or evolution, is a process that is observed in living things and is thought to be responsible for the progressive alterations in a species' features through successive generations. Darwin's finches of Galapagos island clearly provide evidence in favour of natural selection and biogeographical evolution.

Step by step solution:
Natural selection, or evolution, is a process that is observed in living things and is thought to be responsible for the progressive alterations in a species' features through successive generations. Any cumulative or net change in an organism's or population's features over a long period of time is considered evolution, or descent with modification.
 The study of the geographic distribution of flora, fauna, bacteria, and fungi today and throughout time is known as biogeography. The study of biogeography is crucial to understanding evolution. This is due to the fact that elements like climate and geographic features frequently have an impact on how a species evolves. Charles Darwin's discovery of various finch species that varied from island to island during his visit to the Galapagos Islands was essential in the development of his theory of natural selection. The Galapagos island's Darwin finches share a common ancestor with birds whose beaks later evolved in response to their feeding habits. Thus, they offer proof of biogeographical evolution. Hence Galapagos finches offer proof of biogeographical evolution.
So, option (C) is correct.
Note: All the birds at Galapagos island initially had the same pattern of beak but later on, in order to distribute food available to everyone, the pattern of their beak changed due to biogeographical evolution.