Why Siblings Are Like Darwin’s Finches: Birth Order, Sibling Competition, and Adaptive Divergence within the Family

2010 ◽  
pp. 86-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank J. Sulloway
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Sibling Competition ◽  
Adaptive Divergence ◽  
Darwin's Finches ◽  
Darwin’S Finches ◽  
The Family

scholarly journals Feeding innovations in a nested phylogeny of Neotropical passerines

2016 ◽  
Vol 371 (1690) ◽  
pp. 20150188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Lefebvre ◽  
Simon Ducatez ◽  
Jean-Nicolas Audet
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Phylogenetics ◽  
Research Effort ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Neotropical Region ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Darwin's Finches ◽  
Darwin’S Finches ◽  
The Family ◽  
Stem Species ◽  
Adaptive Radiations

Several studies on cognition, molecular phylogenetics and taxonomic diversity independently suggest that Darwin's finches are part of a larger clade of speciose, flexible birds, the family Thraupidae , a member of the New World nine-primaried oscine superfamily Emberizoidea . Here, we first present a new, previously unpublished, dataset of feeding innovations covering the Neotropical region and compare the stem clades of Darwin's finches to other neotropical clades at the levels of the subfamily, family and superfamily/order. Both in terms of raw frequency as well as rates corrected for research effort and phylogeny, the family Thraupidae and superfamily Emberizoidea show high levels of innovation, supporting the idea that adaptive radiations are favoured when the ancestral stem species were flexible. Second, we discuss examples of innovation and problem-solving in two opportunistic and tame Emberizoid species, the Barbados bullfinch Loxigilla barbadensis and the Carib grackle Quiscalus lugubris fortirostris in Barbados. We review studies on these two species and argue that a comparison of L. barbadensis with its closest, but very shy and conservative local relative, the black-faced grassquit Tiaris bicolor , might provide key insights into the evolutionary divergence of cognition.

Dramatis Personae

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Mitchell Sommers
Keyword(s):  
Birth Order ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Official Records

This chapter introduces the family: father Edmund, a shoemaker turned bookseller, and his three or four wives, their social and religious status, questions of literacy and formal education. The children are introduced more or less in their birth order: Kezia, Ebenezer, Manoah, Job, and Charity. The difficulties of tracing women is discussed. Particular attention is paid to Kezia, who was the subject of one of Ebenezer’s astrological cases, and Charity, who left a decades-long trail through official records, marking her as one of the most economically savvy members of the family. Since many of the Sibly men took shorthand, there is a brief discussion of contemporary shorthand uses, accuracy, and to what extent shorthand takers preserved the voice of the speaker. Ebenezer’s daughter Urania is also introduced, though like Ebenezer and Manoah, she has her own chapter later in the work

scholarly journals Isotopic Niche Segregation among Darwin’s Finches on Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Mariana Villegas ◽  
Catherine Soos ◽  
Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui ◽  
Shukri Matan ◽  
Keith A. Hobson
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Isotopic Niche ◽  
Museum Specimens ◽  
Santa Cruz Island ◽  
Santa Cruz ◽  
Δ13c And Δ15n ◽  
Darwin's Finches ◽  
Darwin’S Finches ◽  
Foraging Guilds

Darwin’s finches are a classic example of adaptive radiation involving differential use of dietary resources among sympatric species. Here, we apply stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N, and δ2H) analyses of feathers to examine ecological segregation among eight Darwin’s finch species in Santa Cruz Island, Galápagos collected from live birds and museum specimens (1962–2019). We found that δ13C values were higher for the granivorous and herbivorous foraging guilds, and lower for the insectivorous finches. Values of δ15N were similar among foraging guilds but values of δ2H were higher for insectivores, followed by granivores, and lowest for herbivores. The herbivorous guild generally occupied the largest isotopic standard ellipse areas for all isotopic combinations and the insectivorous guild the smallest. Values of δ2H provided better trophic discrimination than those of δ15N possibly due to confounding influences of agricultural inputs of nitrogen. Segregation among guilds was enhanced by portraying guilds in three-dimensional isotope (δ13C, δ15N, and δ2H) space. Values of δ13C and δ15N were higher for feathers of museum specimens than for live birds. We provide evidence that Darwin’s finches on Santa Cruz Island tend to be generalists with overlapping isotopic niches and suggest that dietary overlap may also be more considerable than previously thought.

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