Question

Natural selection requires genetic variation, competition for limited resources, overproduction of offspring, and unequal reproductive success. The subset of finches that is capable of eating large seeds, while many others eat small seeds, is an example of which requirement?

Answer 1

The finches with beak adaptations allowing them to eat large seeds are an example of genetic variation, which is crucial for natural selection to occur and drive evolutionary changes within the population.

Step-by-step explanation:

The subset of finches capable of eating large seeds exemplifies genetic variation, which is a requirement of natural selection. The variation in beak sizes among Darwin's finches that allows different individuals to eat seeds of various sizes is essential to the process of natural selection. In a given environmental context, some of these traits provide advantages that lead to greater reproductive success compared to others, gradually shifting the population's traits over time.

When finches with larger beaks have better access to large seeds, they are more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on the genes associated with larger beak size. Conversely, when smaller seeds are more abundant, finches with smaller beaks have a reproductive advantage. This ongoing process demonstrates how selective pressures can lead to a change in the distribution of traits within a population, a fundamental aspect of adaptive evolution.

Answer 2

Genetic variation

Step-by-step explanation:

Darwin studied that different populations of finches on Galapagos island that are descended from the same species. Some species are evolved to eat nuts and large seed, some eat small seeds and some feed on insects and nectar.

So genetic variation occurred in different populations of finches which enabled them to bring changes in their beak according to the food resource they have chosen to feed on.

So in Darwin's finches, genetic variation leads to new species which is a type of natural selection. Therefore subset of finches that can feed on large seeds and small seeds is an example of genetic variation.