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Books about the life of Charles Darwin and the development of his theory always give special importance to the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean. These islands are even mentioned in some biology textbooks, since the Galapagos were a source of inspiration for Darwin as he drew up his theory. Evolutionists describe these islands as a place where the foundations of the theory of evolution were laid, and as "Darwin's laboratory." As a result of the 20th century's intense Darwinist propaganda, the Galapagos have acquired great fame .
These small islands lie fairly close to one another, some 1,000 kilometers off the coast of Ecuador, to the west of the South America. They are all volcanic in origin, having emerged from magma thrown up by a volcano several million years ago.
During his five-year voyage on the explorer vessel H.M.S Beagle, Darwin landed on the Galapagos in 1835, and spent several weeks there conducting observations. The diversity of plant cover and animal life on these islands, so distant from the mainland, made a great impression on Darwin.
The Galapagos Islands are a region containing a very large number of different plant and animal species—various tropical plants as well as finches, flamingos, penguins, giant tortoises, iguanas, seals, butterflies, and insects. Forty-two percent of the plants found on the Galapagos, 75% of the bird species, 91% of the reptiles and all of the mammals are unique to the islands, not found anywhere else in the wild.214
The unique Galapagos finches made these islands a landmark of Darwinism. There are 13 species of finches on the Galapagos Islands, and another one on Cocos Island, some 600 kilometers to the northeast. The scientific literature refers to these 14 species as Galapagos finches or Darwin's finches. The birds finches vary between 7 and 15 centimeters in length, and generally have dark-colored feathers. Being rather tame, they do not fly for very long distances. Although 14 different species have been classified, they bear a close resemblance to one another, exhibiting similar body shapes, colors and habits. Ornithologists distinguish between them mainly on the basis of beak shape and body size.
These birds' profound influence had on Darwin is described in various accounts:
The finches, then, did play a role in the formulation of Darwin's theory and they became an important part of his evidence for the role of natural selection in evolution.215
In fact, Charles Darwin looked to 13 different species of finches from the Galapagos Islands to help bolster his theories of evolution. 216
Evolutionists ever since Darwin have claimed that the present-day Galapagos finches evolved from a single species that arrived long ago from South America. At every opportunity, they use these birds as an example of evolution through natural selection, and portray them as one of the best-known proofs of evolution. Morever, evolutionists claim that studies on the finches provide an overwhelming evidence for the role of evolutionary process in generating the extensive biodiversity.217
Evolutionists refer to how different forms emerge as the result of a single species settling in various environments as adaptive radiation. They portray the so-called evolution of finches living on the Galapagos as a classic example of this; and may go even further and claim that the same process can be observed today.
Professor Ali Demirsoy, who devotes considerable space to the theory of evolution in his books, describes the Galapagos finches as a good example of adaptive radiation:
Adaptive radiation can be seen on a small scale in the finches living in the Galapagos Islands . . . Some of these birds are ground-feeders, eating cereals and seeds, others live in the trees, feeding on insects, while others still live in certain cacti, feeding on their seeds. But these birds, which all share the same origin, display a striking level of adaptive radiation in terms of their beak size and shape.218
According to Hau and Wikelski, Darwin's finches are "are a textbook example of adaptive radiation" and "one of the most convincing evidences for ‘evolution in action'.219
This chapter shall examine Darwin's and his followers' errors regarding these finches, and show how these birds reveal no evidence for the theory of evolution.
First, we can briefly touch on the classification of these birds in the scientific literature.
References
- Özge Balkız, "Neden Bizim de Kangurumuz Yok?" ("Why don't we have a Kangaroo?"), Bilim ve Teknik, No. 410, January 2002, p. 85. ↩
- Alan D. Gishlick, "Icons of Evolution," http://www.natcenscied.org/icons/icon7finches.html ↩
- http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1178 ↩
- Timothy A. Mousseau, Alexander E. Olvido, "Geographical Variation", Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, 2000, ğ.els.net. ↩
- Prof. Dr. Ali Demirsoy, Yaşamın Temel Kuralları, Vol. I / November I, 11th edition, Ankara: Meteksan Yayınları, 1998, p. 613. ↩
- Michaela Hau, Martin Wikelski, "Darwin's Finches," Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, 2000, ğ.els.net. ↩