What fossil evidence is there for transitional forms leading up to finches, or to birds in general?
(Questions from David, Kelowna, British Columbia) 1. Does Grant’s study do anything to confirm *macro* evolution? The Grant study is in the area of microevolution, evolution within a population. Very likely the same processes that cause microevolution cause the genetic divergence leading to macroevolution (production of separate species) when one population is separated into two. Galapagos is a likely place for this to happen, because a subgroup from one population might colonize a separate island and experience a different set of selective influences. After a period of responses to the separate sets of influences, the two populations can be expected to have evolved differently. However, the Grant study has not documented macroevolution in progress; macroevolution is a difficult phenomenon to identify as it is happening in the wild. In laboratory situations, however, it is easy to cause macroevolution to happen and it has been done many times. 2. What fossil evidence is there for trans
