Darwin's finches

(Newser) - After four decades of work, researchers published the origin of Big Bird (not that one ) in Science this week—and it's scientifically unprecedented. The BBC reports that for the first time ever, researchers were able to watch the rise of a new species play out in nature. "...

(Newser) - Charles Darwin's finches of the Galapagos Islands—renowned as a poster child for speciation (that's "the process by which new species arise," explains Smithsonian )—may not be able to evolve fast enough to stave off extinction, according to a study published last week in the...

(Newser) - Serious problem, simple fix. Researchers on the Galapagos Islands have helped Darwin's finches protect their nests from a dangerous new parasite, reports Scientific American . The simple fix: Scientists left cotton balls laced with a mild pesticide for the birds to take, and the finches happily wove them into their...