Finches on Galapagos Islands evolving

From Yahoo courtesy of AlterNet:

Finches on the Galapagos Islands that inspired Charles Darwin to develop the concept of evolution are now helping confirm it — by evolving.

A medium sized species of Darwin's finch has evolved a smaller beak to take advantage of different seeds just two decades after the arrival of a larger rival for its original food source.

The altered beak size shows that species competing for food can undergo evolutionary change, said Peter Grant of Princeton University, lead author of the report appearing in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

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Oh my. What will the creationists say? It's hard to speculate about their response because their denial of evolution forces them into the realm of loopy irrationality from the get-go. Being confronted with the direct evidence that they swear up and down just doesn't exist is bound to push them even further into loopy land: who can predict the specific ravings of a lunatic? They're certain to attempt to contradict this latest addition to the already existing mountain of scientific evidence in favor of evolution, but as far as what bullshit arguments they employ to do so, your guess is as good as mine.

As Carl Sagan so defiantly stated in Cosmos, his acclaimed PBS science series in the early 80s, "Evolution is a fact. It really happened." Indeed. As with global warming, the debate is over, and it's been over for a much longer time with evolution. That there is any discussion about it's validity at all outside of serious scientific circles is a testament to just how utterly fucked up this country is. Think about it: a whole bunch of Americans actually believe that the universe was created some five thousand years ago, and that God placed fossil evidence of evolution as a test of human faith in him. Frankly, I think it's more believable that little green aliens have been kidnapping humans for decades and examining their genitalia for some reason, and that's obviously bullshit, too.

Anyway, still more evidence to rub your fundie friends' noses in. Have fun.

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