quote:
I was talking about the galapagos finches during the drought where some interbreeding was observed between {otherwise classified as different species} individuals.
Interbreeding has been reported in about half of the species in the whole archipelago, and not just during the drought. However, only two actual breeding studies have been done confirming this-- one on Daphne Major and the other on Genovesa. Many of the interbreeding reports were based on observations of individuals that appeared to be intermediate in morphology between breeding populations. Nevertheless, the rate of interbreeding is extremely low.
I think the general feeling is that many (possibly all) of the species identified in the Galapagos are more incipient species, populations that are at various stages of divergence, but without complete reproductive isolation. The situation is extremely complex there, because of immigration between certain islands, and the geology, where some islands are relatively new and have arisen since the birds arrived. We won't really know the complete picture until full breeding studies have been done on all the breeding populations on all of the islands-- a LOT of painstaking work.
KC
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