Charles Darwin studied finches on the Galapagos Islands. While the finches on all the islands came from the same ancestors, the distance between the islands was too great to allow finches from different islands to interbreed. Over time, the size of the finches on the different islands remained the same, but the shape and size of their beaks changed, as shown here. This adaptation helped the finches find food on their particular island. The change in the size and shape of the finches’ beaks was MOST LIKELY caused by

Question

Responses
A geographic isolationgeographic isolation
B a change in climate.a change in climate.
C endangerment of the species.endangerment of the species.
D a decrease in the mutation rate.a decrease in the mutation rate.

Answer 1

The change in the size and shape of the finches' beaks was MOST LIKELY caused by:

A. geographic isolation.

This is because the finches on different islands evolved adaptations specific to their environments due to the inability to interbreed with finches from other islands. Geographic isolation leads to different evolutionary pressures, resulting in the distinct beak shapes and sizes observed among the finch populations.