Part 2, Chapter 13 Summary

Rosemary and Peter are cleaning up the data they have collected over the past twenty years to ensure it has all been entered correctly. They are feeling as if they are above the island watching the evolution of the finches come to life.

The Grants have discovered through their research that the plants on Daphne Major have changed drastically, which in turn is changing the finches. With the gradual disappearance of the cacti, the number of cactus finches is dropping very quickly. But since the super El Niso, the hybrids are flourishing, along with the medium ground finches. This shows that while the cactus finches are not adapting to the changes very well, the medium ground finches are adapting quite nicely. Of course, maybe the cactus finches are adapting, too, through interbreeding with the medium ground finches.

Another study with fruit...