Birds with longer bills were able to feed more effectively from bird feeders and thereby produce more offspring, which led the population as whole to have longer bills. French biologist jean baptiste lamark had a theory of acquired genetics such that offspring would take on the characteristics their parents adopted in their life. Lamarcian geneticspre dated darwin's theory of evolution, and once darwin came on the scene, people were like, yaby lamark a revoir nno.
Celebrate your lucky mutations with an episode about natural selection, agonizing boat trips, redemption stories, olde timey inter-family marriages, how much money you can make playing videos games, finch beaks, whether or not cave men are kinda hot and how to live on a small island with your soulmate. Evolutionary biologist and the director of the Moore Lab of Zoology, John McCormack, chats about all things evolution and gives Alie a new appreciation for how genetic blips can be hidden strengths.
Moore Lab of Zoology
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Sound editing by Steven Ray Morris
Music by Nick Thorburn