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Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. According to modern evolutionary biology, all living beings could be descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all life on Earth. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The term "Darwin's finches" was first applied by Percy Lowe in 1936, and popularised in 1947 by David Lack in his book Darwin's Finches. [7] [8] Lack based his analysis on the large collection of museum specimens collected by the 1905–06 Galápagos expedition of the California Academy of Sciences, to whom Lack dedicated his 1947 book. The ...
Comparative sequence analysis examines the relationship between the DNA sequences of different species, [1] producing several lines of evidence that confirm Darwin's original hypothesis of common descent. If the hypothesis of common descent is true, then species that share a common ancestor inherited that ancestor's DNA sequence, as well as ...
One of the first recorded examples of divergent evolution is the case of Darwin's Finches. During Darwin's travels to the Galápagos Islands, he discovered several different species of finch, living on the different islands. Darwin observed that the finches had different beaks specialized for that species of finches' diet. [11]
Darwin discusses contemporary opinions on the origins of different breeds under cultivation to argue that many have been produced from common ancestors by selective breeding. [116] As an illustration of artificial selection , he describes fancy pigeon breeding, [ 117 ] noting that "[t]he diversity of the breeds is something astonishing", yet ...
The genus Camarhynchus was introduced in 1837 by English ornithologist John Gould, with the large tree finch as the type species. [2] The name combines the Ancient Greek kamara meaning "arch" or "vault" with rhunkhos meaning "bill". [3] The members of the genus form part of a group collectively known as Darwin's finches. [4]
The mediaeval great chain of being as a staircase, implying the possibility of progress: [1] Ramon Lull's Ladder of Ascent and Descent of the Mind, 1305. Alternatives to Darwinian evolution have been proposed by scholars investigating biology to explain signs of evolution and the relatedness of different groups of living things.
Unlike Lamarck, Darwin proposed common descent and a branching tree of life, meaning that two very different species could share a common ancestor. Darwin based his theory on the idea of natural selection: it synthesized a broad range of evidence from animal husbandry, biogeography, geology, morphology, and embryology.