Literature Review

Paper details
Read two articles, and answer for the questions
1. Briefly summarize some of the changes that occurred to the physical environment, the plant life, and the
finches of Daphne Major between 1976 and 1978, as detailed by Boag and Grant.
2. Using clues found in the descriptions provided by Boag and Grant, build a case for the operation of
natural selection on the finch population of Daphne Major. To do this, refer back to the elements of the
formal theory of natural selection introduced in chapter 22 of the text (hint: it involves two observations and
two inferences).
3. Hoekstra et al. identify two subcategories for natural selection that we have seen little or no mention of
up until now. What are they? How are they different? What is an example of each?
4. The statistics of interest to Hoekstra et al. are confusing, so let’s focus on their overall approach instead.
From where did they collect their data? What is such an approach called? (Do some Googling to find out.)
What do you think a drawback is to such an approach?
5. Summarize the major findings of Hoekstra et al. Then try to place the results of Boag and Grant in
context of Hoekstra’s. Would you describe the selection event on Daphne Major as typical or unusual?
Why?