Event:

Since Darwin’s time insights from the fields of behavior, ecology and genetics have
illuminated the process of speciation. In this talk we will highlight our recent discoveries
of evolution in Darwin’s finch populations in the Galápagos archipelago. Field studies of
the behavior of individuals and the ecology of populations demonstrate how the species
are reproductively and ecologically isolated. Molecular genetics have added a new
dimension to this understanding by providing genomic detail of evolution in
contemporary as well as historical populations. By integrating findings from these
disciplines, we have revealed three processes of speciation, provided explanations for
changes in evolutionary trajectories, and identified important causal factors.