Evolution is the topic for Tuesdays class discussion, so I think it might be interesting to share some experiences that I have had. I had the opportunity to live in Ecuador for two years in middle school. The Galapagos Islands are a territory of that country; so, while I was there, my parents took the family to go see them. I was fascinated by the wild life I saw there. This was the place where Charles Darwin first thought of his theory of evolution by looking at the finches (commonly known as "
Darwin's Finches"). Darwin noted that among the finches he saw there, all seemed to have beaks adept to the particular foods available to them on their respective islands.
It wasn't just the finches that Charles Darwin found interesting. As highlighted by popular culture in the movie "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (2003) the character Dr. Stephen Maturin is captivated by the flightless cormorants he finds on the Galapagos Islands. This small geologic hot spot island chain has numerous examples of creatures that have evolved from their parent species to better suit their environments. Here are some just to name a few
:
-Some species of tortoise have higher shells near their necks that allow them to reach higher for the vegetation growing on a particular island
-The Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) as evolved to be able to obtain food and swim in the ocean.
-The Galapagos Penguin is another neat example of life adaptation. These tiny creatures show how an antarctic creature has slowly evolved to be able to live in the hot equatorial climate rather that at its native south pole.
4 comments:
I love this post Andrew! Thanks for the great information and pictures. Wasn't it clever of Darwin to figure out the way that God's creations work? I am so glad that I don't see evolution as a threat to my faith!
I agree- understanding the context behind Darwin's observations and research is helpful to completely understanding his conclusions.
Well, its true. In the Galapagos, it is so easy to see the evidence of evolution. Darwin had a lot going for him. Not only did he have the ideas of the Enlightenment, Uniformitarianism, and Romanticism going for him. He happened to visit a spot on earth where animals aren't afraid of humans, are easy to study, and clearly exhibit the ideas of change and natural selection.
Wow! This is amazing! The Galapagos Islands...God's evolution laboratory.
I never thought about Darwin as consuming Enlightenment, Uniformitarianism and Romanticism...but he did. He was taught those principles...then he went out on The Beagle and studied/researched and created written works for us to study today and build upon. True consume, create and connect! :)
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