Darwin's finches of the Galápagos Islands stand as one of the most impressive examples of evolution. After colonizing the islands, a single ancestral finch species eventually diversified into 13 species of different sizes, bill shapes, and ecologies. The suboscine passerine birds exhibit a similar history, but their diversification was not limited to a small set of islands; instead they are found throughout South America, Central America, North America, and parts of the Old World. There are now 1,300 species that differ dramatically in body shape and size, feeding behavior, and nest architecture. The primary goal of this project is to use DNA sequences to reconstruct the evolutionary history of these species, and to use this model system to investigate why the tropics are so biologically diverse.
A vital component of this collaborative project between U.S. and Brazilian scientists is the research training it will provide. With fieldwork planned in Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Viet Nam, young scientists from a diversity of countries will be exposed not only to a diversity of natural environments but will also interact and forge relationships with their international peers. By working together to reconstruct perhaps the most spectacular evolutionary radiations of birds in the world, the researchers will learn how evolution works on a continental scale while training a new generation of scientists.
