....and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Genesis 1:20
"Evolutionary biologists have long held up songbirds, particularly the Galapagos finches first described by Charles Darwin, as an example of natural selection at work. In order to exploit different environments and food sources, the birds developed a startling variety of beak shapes—from short, blunt beaks ideal for cracking seeds and nuts to long, slender beaks designed to sip nectar from flowers. The assumption was that natural selection was the primary, if not the sole, cause for the variation.
But while that variation can be tied, in part, to the way the beaks develop, Harvard researchers say that common developmental mechanism is also a powerful constraint on new beak shapes.....has demonstrated that a shared developmental mechanism in songbirds is
responsible for generating tremendous variability in their beaks, and is also a check against certain types of novel shapes.
"What this study suggests is that for songbirds which use a conical-shaped beak … even though they show amazing adaptive diversity, they all generate their beaks using the same developmental mechanism, and that puts constraints on the kind of variation they are able to produce," said Abzhanov. "Ultimately, it shows how efficiently nature can work, because these birds have been able to squeeze as much as they can from the level of variation they can actually produce."
In addition to demonstrating how a single mechanism can both create and limit diversity, the findings suggest that environment should be considered one of several factors driving variation across species.
"What we're trying to do is to mathematically model how beak shapes develop and evolve," Abzhanov said. "Our study of finches became a beachhead into the great diversity of bird beaks. There are birds with specialized beaks for eating insects, fruit, nuts, seeds—you name it. In fact, the beaks of birds we studied allow them to feed on all diets known to be consumed by songbirds." PHYS.org
In laymens terms---Darwin saw micro-evolution (today known as genetic diversity which is how you get different shapes, sizes & colors) and he erroneously interpreted that to lead to micro-evolution (what people mean today when they say "evolution", like a whale to a human).
He also assumed it all had to do with natural selection from the surrounding environment acting upon the birds. But research shows it is more from the pre-programmed genetic diversity within each kind.
Genesis 1:20
"Evolutionary biologists have long held up songbirds, particularly the Galapagos finches first described by Charles Darwin, as an example of natural selection at work. In order to exploit different environments and food sources, the birds developed a startling variety of beak shapes—from short, blunt beaks ideal for cracking seeds and nuts to long, slender beaks designed to sip nectar from flowers. The assumption was that natural selection was the primary, if not the sole, cause for the variation.
But while that variation can be tied, in part, to the way the beaks develop, Harvard researchers say that common developmental mechanism is also a powerful constraint on new beak shapes.....has demonstrated that a shared developmental mechanism in songbirds is
"What this study suggests is that for songbirds which use a conical-shaped beak … even though they show amazing adaptive diversity, they all generate their beaks using the same developmental mechanism, and that puts constraints on the kind of variation they are able to produce," said Abzhanov. "Ultimately, it shows how efficiently nature can work, because these birds have been able to squeeze as much as they can from the level of variation they can actually produce."
In addition to demonstrating how a single mechanism can both create and limit diversity, the findings suggest that environment should be considered one of several factors driving variation across species.
"What we're trying to do is to mathematically model how beak shapes develop and evolve," Abzhanov said. "Our study of finches became a beachhead into the great diversity of bird beaks. There are birds with specialized beaks for eating insects, fruit, nuts, seeds—you name it. In fact, the beaks of birds we studied allow them to feed on all diets known to be consumed by songbirds." PHYS.org
In laymens terms---Darwin saw micro-evolution (today known as genetic diversity which is how you get different shapes, sizes & colors) and he erroneously interpreted that to lead to micro-evolution (what people mean today when they say "evolution", like a whale to a human).
He also assumed it all had to do with natural selection from the surrounding environment acting upon the birds. But research shows it is more from the pre-programmed genetic diversity within each kind.