Reddit reviews The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time
We found 3 Reddit comments about The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Yes, shorter generation times do result in quicker evolution (all else being equal), for the same reason that selective breeding works faster on organisms that reproduce quickly.
There are other factors that can (or are at least hypothesized to) influence how quickly a species can evolve, such as the number of offspring produced in a lifetime, DNA repair mechanisms, sexual vs asexual reproduction, and the number of chromosome sets.
A given trait may be more or less likely to evolve as well, depending on various factors.
For instance, genetic linkage can play a role in how common a particular trait becomes over time. In humans, one example would be blonde hair and blue eyes, which are genetically linked on Chromosome 15. When genes are genetically linked, it means that selection pressure for/against one trait (say, blonde hair) will inadvertently select for/against any other traits that generally appear alongside it on the same chromosome (say, blue eyes).
And, as you might imagine, genes that have a broad effect on the organism (such as the HOX genes, which control developmental processes in the body) will often evolve more slowly than other genes, because there's greater likelihood for something to go wrong in a way that kills the organism (mutations to the HOX genes can cause serious deformities). There are a lot of genes affect several traits; for example, certain pigmentation genes also relate to the inner ear (which is why some coat colors in animals, like cats and dogs, correlate with deafness; in humans, this link between coloration and deafness is called Waardenburg syndrome).
If you're interested in the rate of speciation in particular, there are numerous additional factors to consider, which relate to how two populations cease to interbreed with one another, allowing them to evolve in different directions. Contrary to popular belief, separation by long distances (as by an ocean, mountain range, etc.) is not the primary driving force behind speciation.
It's more common for speciating populations to evolve some mechanism to avoid interbreeding—e.g., different breeding times, physical changes to reproductive structures, or assortative mating. I highly recommend reading The Beak of the Finch if you'd like to learn more about it.
Sometimes external factors split population into groups that can't interbreed, leading to speciation. For example, the bacteria Wolbachia can affect the reproduction of its hosts in various ways, and it's hypothesized to promote diversity in insects.
There are a few decent books out there for beginners:
Don't try to convert her 'away' from Islam. Just show her something you like and consider neat. For example, if you can truly geek out about the careful analyses and neat conclusions in "The Beak of the Finch", then go ahead and share that with her.
That way, she'll at least be exposed to what an actual scientific process looks like, and it shouldn't get as contentious. You're not talking about how humans evolved; you're showing her what life is like for bunch of birds on a far-off island.
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