Introduction

EvolutionLab will allow you to study important principles of evolution by examining small populations of finches on two different islands, "Darwin Island" and "Wallace Island." You will manipulate important parameters that influence natural selection and then follow how your changes influence the evolution of beak size and population numbers for the two different populations of finches over selected time intervals. One obvious advantage of this simulation is that you can quickly and easily create new parameters and model evolutionary changes over long time periods.

Objectives

The purpose of this laboratory is to:

• Help you develop an understanding of important factors that affect evolution of a species.
  
• Demonstrate important biological and environmental selection factors that influence evolution by natural selection.
  
• Simulate how changes in beak size and other characteristics of finch populations influence evolution of beak size and population numbers.

Before You Begin: Prerequisites

Before beginning EvolutionLab you should be familiar with the following concepts:

• Evolution and the importance of natural selection as a central concept of Darwinism
• Biological and environmental factors that influence natural selection.
• Evolutionary principles associated with population genetics.