Darwin's Finches: The Hype Continues

Every few years we are treated to glowing news stories about "Darwin's finches." The latest, published today in The Washington Post, is titled "200 years after Darwin, this is how the iconic Galpagos finches are still evolving," and, as usual, it is full of hype.

When Charles Darwin visited the Galpagos Islands in 1835, he collected specimens of the local wildlife. These included some finches that he threw into bags, many of them mislabeled. Although the Galpagos finches had little impact on...