Darwin noticed differences in the beak shapes of finches on the various islands of the Galapagos and surmised that they all might have evolved from a common ancestor on the mainland. If Darwin had known about molecular biology, a field of study that did not exist at the time he lived, how might he have used it to test his hypothesis?

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Biology

Bradley Jarvis

5 April, 11:58

Darwin noticed differences in the beak shapes of finches on the various islands of the Galapagos and surmised that they all might have evolved from a common ancestor on the mainland. If Darwin had known about molecular biology, a field of study that did not exist at the time he lived, how might he have used it to test his hypothesis?

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Ishaan Fernandez · Answer 1

He could perform some DNA tests that could show how those species were related. For example, genome sequencing could show all the differences in DNA nucleotides. The number of changes could then be multiplied by the rate of mutations and the result would show how species were related.