Darwin's Finches are a classic textbook example of evolution by natural selection. Since Charles Darwin, who introduced these birds to science, they have been studied by generations of ecologists and evolutionary biologists. Previous investigations have shown the adaptive significance of their diverse beak shapes, which allow them to survive on distinct food sources. However, the genetic and molecular mechanisms behind these highly adaptive biological shapes remained unknown. Dr. Abzhanov and colleagues recently demonstrated that beak diversity in Darwin's Finches is not random but follows a particular series of mathematical transitions and all their beaks can be classified as sets of related geometric shapes. This project aims to uncover the precise molecular mechanisms by sequencing, comparing and analyzing multiple genes involved in development of distinct beak shapes across Darwin's Finches. It is expected that important new regulatory molecules will be identified and validated using functional experiments. Therefore, biological diversity will be explained both by forces of natural selection and by particular genetic changes that made such adaptations possible. The integration of this work with the long-standing evolutionary, ecological and conservation studies on Darwin's Finches will provide a more mechanistic explanation for evolution in the minds of high school and college textbook writers, school teachers and science news writers and publicists who bring most significant findings to scientific and general public audiences. Investigators will work with the Harvard University Museum of Natural History, which is attended by tens of thousands of K-12 students and teachers each year, to establish a new educational exhibit on bird evolution that will focus on the emergence of the bird face from the reptilian condition and subsequent beak diversification to explain evolutionary processes. Finally, this project will advance training and mentoring of undergraduates, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows and will yield salient research and training research opportunities.
