Darwin's Finches, New Species, and the Grants

The famous Grants, Peter and Rosemary, have submitted a paper describing incipient speciation of a self-isolating finch group observed in the Galapagos on the island of Daphne Major.

This group resulted when a single male finch of a different lineage appeared on the island, and interbred, apparently with a hybrid female. The resulting lineage attempted to replicate the mating song of the indigenous finches, but the copy was not exact, and interbreeding between the new group and the indigenous group did not occur. However, incestuous breeding did occur in the offspring of the intergressor and the hybrid female, and a new group was formed which remained outside the original indigenous group.

This is said to be the second stage of speciation, with the creation of a totally new species possible. Also possible is that the entire group will vanish.

Here’s my take. There was a mixing of genes that produced a viable hybridization, one which can interbreed within its own group, and prefers its own group to other, closely related groups. This preference, or even exclusive grouping, falls within the (very loose) definition of speciation.

This is not a serious issue. At least not for those of us who question the ability of natural selection to select for complex features that did not previously exist, or create complex new information with mere mutations. Because that is not what happened here.