Evolution

Part 1 of 2: Why does Hawaii produce such an astounding and unique diversity of specialized evolution and adaptive radiation?

The answer lies mainly in the unique geological processes that have formed the Hawaiian Chain. As the Pacific tectonic plate drags over a stationary hot spot of magma, a new island gets pumped out every couple million years at most, and each new island is essentially a bl

ank slate for evolutionary processes. Before humans arrived, very few species were able to make the long journey, accidental or otherwise, to the middle of the worlds largest ocean, leaving many environmental niches open to a small number of species, and bringing about a large number of new specialist species to fill these niches. Later, we will examine more deeply how the geology of Hawaii affected the astounding evolution of one of these groups of species - and one of the most unique groups of birds in the world: the Hawaiian Honeycreepers.