Microevolution of quantitative traits in the wild can be predicted from a knowledge of selection and genetic parameters. Testing the predictions requires measurement of the offspring of the selected group, a requirement that is difficult to meet. We present the results of a study of Darwin's finches on the Galápagos island of Daphne Major where this requirement is met. The study demonstrates microevolutionary consequences of natural selection.
Keywords: Beaks; Darwin's finches; Galápagos; body size; extrapolation; genetic correlations; multivariate evolution; nutrition.
© 1995 The Society for the Study of Evolution.