Scientists devise new model for origins of Darwin's finches
May 9 (UPI) -- New research offers the best explanation to date of the origins of Darwin's finches.The diversity of finches on the Galapagos Islands inspired Darwin's theory of natural selection and species divergence, central tenets of the naturalist's theory of evolution. But until now, scientists have struggled to determine where the finch species came from and how they got to the Pacific Islands.Darwin's finches include 15 passerine species. They belong to the tanager family and are not closely related to true finches.As part of the latest study, San Diego State University's Erik Funk and Kevin Burns built a complex statistical model to consider two competing hypotheses for the origins of Darwin's finches. Both models considered the Galapagos, South America and the Caribbean as the bir...