Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 14 July 2006:
Vol. 313. no. 5784, pp. 224 - 226
DOI: 10.1126/science.1128374
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Evolution of Character Displacement in Darwin's Finches

Peter R. Grant* and B. Rosemary Grant

Competitor species can have evolutionary effects on each other that result in ecological character displacement; that is, divergence in resource-exploiting traits such as jaws and beaks. Nevertheless, the process of character displacement occurring in nature, from the initial encounter of competitors to the evolutionary change in one or more of them, has not previously been investigated. Here we report that a Darwin's finch species (Geospiza fortis) on an undisturbed Galápagos island diverged in beak size from a competitor species (G. magnirostris) 22 years after the competitor's arrival, when they jointly and severely depleted the food supply. The observed evolutionary response to natural selection was the strongest recorded in 33 years of study, and close to the value predicted from the high heritability of beak size. These findings support the role of competition in models of community assembly, speciation, and adaptive radiations.

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544–1003, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: prgrant{at}princeton.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Parallel evolution and ecological selection: replicated character displacement in spadefoot toads.
A. M. Rice, A. R. Leichty, and D. W. Pfennig (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 4189-4196
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Shifting latitudinal clines in avian body size correlate with global warming in Australian passerines.
J. L. Gardner, R. Heinsohn, and L. Joseph (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 3845-3852
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Molecular, morphological, and ecological niche differentiation of sympatric sister oak species, Quercus virginiana and Q. geminata (Fagaceae).
J. Cavender-Bares and A. Pahlich (2009)
Am. J. Botany 96, 1690-1702
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Polymorphic Genes of Major Effect: Consequences for Variation, Selection and Evolution in Arabidopsis thaliana.
J. R. Stinchcombe, C. Weinig, K. D. Heath, M. T. Brock, and J. Schmitt (2009)
Genetics 182, 911-922
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolution in plant populations as a driver of ecological changes in arthropod communities.
M. T.J. Johnson, M. Vellend, and J. R. Stinchcombe (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 1593-1605
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Experimental evaluation of evolution and coevolution as agents of ecosystem change in Trinidadian streams.
E. P. Palkovacs, M. C. Marshall, B. A. Lamphere, B. R. Lynch, D. J. Weese, D. F. Fraser, D. N. Reznick, C. M. Pringle, and M. T. Kinnison (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 1617-1628
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Eco-evolutionary feedbacks in community and ecosystem ecology: interactions between the ecological theatre and the evolutionary play.
D. M. Post and E. P. Palkovacs (2009)
Phil Trans R Soc B 364, 1629-1640
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Character displacement of song and morphology in African tinkerbirds.
A. N. G. Kirschel, D. T. Blumstein, and T. B. Smith (2009)
PNAS 106, 8256-8261
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Evolutionarily stable range limits set by interspecific competition.
T. D Price and M. Kirkpatrick (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 1429-1434
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Disruptive selection in a bimodal population of Darwin's finches.
A. P Hendry, S. K Huber, L. F De Leon, A. Herrel, and J. Podos (2009)
Proc R Soc B 276, 753-759
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ecomorphological variation in shell shape of the freshwater turtle Pseudemys concinna inhabiting different aquatic flow regimes.
G. Rivera (2008)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 48, 769-787
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Fission and fusion of Darwin's finches populations.
B.R. Grant and P. R Grant (2008)
Phil Trans R Soc B 363, 2821-2829
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Rapid large-scale evolutionary divergence in morphology and performance associated with exploitation of a different dietary resource.
A. Herrel, K. Huyghe, B. Vanhooydonck, T. Backeljau, K. Breugelmans, I. Grbac, R. Van Damme, and D. J. Irschick (2008)
PNAS 105, 4792-4795
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Pedigrees, assortative mating and speciation in Darwin's finches.
P. R Grant and B. R. Grant (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 661-668
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The pace of morphological change: historical transformation of skull shape in St Bernard dogs.
A. G. Drake and C. P. Klingenberg (2008)
Proc R Soc B 275, 71-76
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Ancient and continuing Darwinian selection on insulin-like growth factor II in placental fishes.
M. J. O'Neill, B. R. Lawton, M. Mateos, D. M. Carone, G. C. Ferreri, T. Hrbek, R. W. Meredith, D. N. Reznick, and R. J. O'Neill (2007)
PNAS 104, 12404-12409
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The new mutation theory of phenotypic evolution.
M. Nei (2007)
PNAS 104, 12235-12242
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reproductive isolation of sympatric morphs in a population of Darwin's finches.
S. K Huber, L. F. D. Leon, A. P Hendry, E. Bermingham, and J. Podos (2007)
Proc R Soc B 274, 1709-1714
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ecological Speciation in South Atlantic Island Finches.
P. G. Ryan, P. Bloomer, C. L. Moloney, T. J. Grant, and W. Delport (2007)
Science 315, 1420-1423
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
.
J. A. Ross (2006)
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 15, 2047-2048
   Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)