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Daphne Major Finch Beak Data Exercise

1) A major drought occurred between 1976 and 1978 which caused a decrease in rainfall and food availability for finches on Daphne Major island. 2) During this period, the size and hardness of available seeds decreased. Finch populations dramatically declined due to lack of suitable food sources. 3) Finches that survived the drought tended to have deeper beaks above 7.3 mm, allowing them to access shrinking food resources. Offspring appeared to inherit beak depth from parents, affecting gene pools and future populations.

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Jonas Welliver
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30 views

Daphne Major Finch Beak Data Exercise

1) A major drought occurred between 1976 and 1978 which caused a decrease in rainfall and food availability for finches on Daphne Major island. 2) During this period, the size and hardness of available seeds decreased. Finch populations dramatically declined due to lack of suitable food sources. 3) Finches that survived the drought tended to have deeper beaks above 7.3 mm, allowing them to access shrinking food resources. Offspring appeared to inherit beak depth from parents, affecting gene pools and future populations.

Uploaded by

Jonas Welliver
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Daphne Major Finch Beak Data Exercise

Watch
Galapagos Finch Evolution — HHMI BioInteractive Video

How do species change over time?

Now, in each of these graphs, the first question is always just about what the graph is
measuring, like if I said “What is the graph about?”, what would you say in one sentence? The
second question is about drawing conclusions from the graphs and interpreting the
information.

Graph 1

1) What is the above graph measuring? Do not interpret the graph, just tell me what it is
measuring or comparing.
It is measuring the rainfall in the wet season and the dry season every year.

2) What happened between the end of the Wet Season of 1976 and the beginning of the
Wet Season of 1978? Like, what would the headlines say about that period?
There was a major drought during this time headlines would probably report a major
drought causing major damage to the island populations.

Graph 2

What is the above graph measuring? Just tell me what it is measuring or comparing.

It was measuring the length of beak depth the ospring posses over the course of 2
years.

Interpret: What happened to the depth of finch beaks between 1976 and 1978?
Its depth grew.
Graph 3--Which finches prefers what type of seeds? (by beak length)

What do the three different colors represent in the bar graphs?

Blue small seed, medium seed orange, large seeds grey

What is the relationship between beak size and food preference for birds on Daphne Major?
The deeper the beak the larger the preferred seed size.
Graph 4
(Biomass is the amount of living material in a place)

What is the above graph measuring?


The total seed biomass over time.

What does this graph say about food availability for finches during the drought?
The food availability decreased over time.
Graph 5--Did available food change with the drought?

What is the above graph measuring? Just tell me what it is measuring or comparing.
Hint: It is not the amount of anything.
It’s measuring the size and hardness of seeds and how it changes over a period of
time.

What does this graph say about how the type of available food changed?
It grew smaller and softer over time.
Graph 6

What is the above graph measuring?


The number of finches over time.

What happened to finch populations in 1976-8?


It decreased dramatically.
Why?
Food became more scarce and the available seeds change in size and hardness.
Graph 7--Who lived and who died?

1) What is the above graph measuring? Just tell me what it is measuring or comparing.
It is comparing the beak size of the finches that survived the flood.

2) What happened to most of the finches born in 1976?


Most of them died.

3) Tell me about the ones who survived. What trait did they share?
They all had a beak size above 7.3.
Graph 8--Is beak depth inherited?

1) What is the above graph measuring? Do not interpret the graph, just tell me what it is
measuring or comparing.
The beak sizes in the gene pool in 1976 compared to the average beak sizes in 1978

2) Do the data show whether parents pass on their beak depth to their offspring? Explain.
It does as the depletion of finches with beaks that possess fewer depth leads to less
in the future which suggests that this was caused by the lack of birds carrying the
genes.

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