66. Daphne Major
Daphne Minor
Daphne Major is the location of Peter and Rosemary Grant’s research on
Darwin’s Finches as described in The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner. It
is visible from Bachas Beach.
132. CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN, 1809-1882
Darwin visits the Galápagos, September, 1835
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural
Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the
Struggle for Life, 1859
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex,
1871
133. The Origin “does not document the origin of a single species,
or a single case of natural selection, or the preservation of one
favored race in the struggle for life.”
Darwin “marshalled an enormous mass of evidence that
evolution has happened. Yet Darwin never saw it happen.”
“Natural selection by itself is not evolution. It is only a
mechanism … that can lead to evolution … . Natural selection
takes place within a generation, but evolution takes place
across generations.”
–– Jonathan Weiner, The Beak of the Finch
134. Darwin’s Finches
● Thirteen species, thought to have descended from a
common ancestor
Ground Finches: Small, Medium, Large and Sharp-beaked
Tree Finches: Small, Medium and Large
Cactus Finch and Large Cactus Finch
Vegetarian Finch
Warbler Finch
Mangrove Finch
Woodpecker Finch
● Some can be found throughout the islands; others are
localized
● All are rather drab; usually the males are dark in
color, while the females are lighter and streaked
135. “The diversity of beak structure and feeding habits within this
group is remarkable. The individual species feed in a variety of
ways with each specialized in a particular way. Some eat
seeds, some eat insects, some remove ticks from
tortoises, some eat leaves, some eat flowers, some drink blood
from seabirds, and there are two species that use twigs or
cactus spines to extract insect larvae from holes in the dead
branches of trees.”
–– Michael Jackson, Galápagos: A Natural History