New information has emerged to show that a prediction of neo-Darwinism has been falsified. Everyone knows that animals adapt to their environments. The surge of interest in climate change has stimulated research into morphological change in Galapagos finches, “Siberian warblers, English sparrows, cuckoos, cowbirds, red-winged blackbirds, and many others.” The message coming through is that the sizes and shapes of animals can change quickly in response to environmental constraints. These findings have been used as fundamental evidence to support mainstream thinking about organic evolution. As explained by Prothero et al.:
“The classic neontological model of gradualistic evolution argues that organisms are sensitive to small environmental changes, and readily adapt to such changes through transformations of body size or morphology. Such is the tradition of a century of research on the evolution of fruit flies, lab rats, and many other animals, as well as natural examples like the small-scale adaptations of Galapagos finches to drought and other local environmental stresses.”
For a discussion of fossils from the La Brea tarpits, go here.