Peter and Rosemary Grant (of Darwin’s finches’ fame) reply to their critics.

Readers may remember the Darwinian icon of the Galapagos finches that were supposed to be turning into new species but then just drifted back and forth.

One would think the finches didn’t give a hoot about Science.

From Evolution News & Views:

In a new Perspective piece in Science Magazine, “Watching Speciation in Action,” they show that they are not the only ones who have witnessed the origin of species. Beginning with the Darwin quote about “grandeur in this view of life” that evolves, they describe a number of studies like theirs that illustrate organisms that have varied and diversified from parent stock. Let’s begin by listing the examples and what is known about them, both genetically and phenotypically. These can be considered their finest “icons of evolution” for 2017.

The list includes

11. High-altitude humans. They say that Tibetans may have obtained adaptation to high altitude via interbreeding with Denisovans.

12. Sunflowers. Members of Helianthus colonized salt marshes via “transgressive segregation,” a form of hybridization whereby individuals can “colonize novel habitats where neither parental lineage can survive.” – More.

It doesn’t amount to much and the Grants admit that, to their credit. The problem is, there doesn’t seem to be any reliable science-based way of determining even what a new species is. So one is always hearing these legends instead. But, probably, Darwinism benefits from indefinitely putting off addressing the problem.

See also: Redefining species: Nuclear vs. mitochondrial genes in birds

and

Nothing says “Darwin snob” like indifference to the mess that the entire concept of speciation is in

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