Editing David Lack (section)

=== Darwin's finches ===
Lack's most famous work is ''Darwin's Finches,'' a landmark study whose title linked [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s name with the [[Galapagos]] group of species and popularised the term "[[Darwin's finches]]" in 1947, though the term had been introduced by [[Percy Lowe]] in 1936.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Steinheimer | first1 = F. D. | title = Charles Darwin's bird collection and ornithological knowledge during the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, 1831–1836 | doi = 10.1007/s10336-004-0043-8 | journal = Journal of Ornithology | volume = 145 | issue = 4 | pages = 300–320 | year = 2004 | s2cid = 24957761 }}</ref> There are two versions of this work, differing significantly in their conclusions. The first is a book-length monograph, written after his visit to the Galapagos, but not published until 1945.<ref name=geospizinae>{{cite journal|title=The Galapagos Finches (Geospizinae) A Study in Variation|first=David|last= Lack|journal=The Auk|volume=62|issue=4|year=1945|pages=644–645|issn=0004-8038|doi=10.2307/4079846|jstor=4079846|doi-access=free}}</ref> In it Lack interprets the differences in bill size as species recognition signals, that is, as [[isolating mechanisms]].

The second is the later book in which the differences in bill size are interpreted as adaptations to specific food niches, an interpretation that has since been abundantly confirmed.<ref name=darwinsfinches>Lack, David 1947. ''Darwin's Finches''. [[Cambridge University Press]] reissued in 1961 by Harper, New York, with a new preface by Lack; reissued in 1983 by Cambridge University Press with an introduction and notes by Laurene M. Ratcliffe and Peter T. Boag). {{ISBN|0-521-25243-1}}</ref> This change of mind, according to Lack's Preface, came about as a result of his reflections on his own data whilst he was doing war work. The effect of this change in interpretation is to put the emphasis for speciation onto natural selection for appropriate food handling instead of seeing it primarily as a by-product of an isolating mechanism. In this way his work contributed to the [[modern synthesis (20th century)|modern evolutionary synthesis]], in which [[natural selection]] came to be seen as the prime mover in evolution, and not random or mutational events. Lack's work laid the foundations for the much more extensive work of [[Peter and Rosemary Grant]] and their colleagues.<ref>Grant, Peter R. 1999. ''Ecology and evolution of Darwin's finches''. Princeton NJ.</ref> Lack's work feeds into studies of island biogeography which continue the same range of issues presented by the Galapagos fauna on a more varied canvas.<ref>MacArthur R. and Wilson E.O. 1967. ''The theory of island biogeography''. Princeton 1967.</ref> According to [[Ernst Mayr]],

:"The person who more than anyone else deserves credit for reviving an interest in the ecological significance of species was David Lack... It is now quite clear that the process of speciation is not completed by the acquisition of isolating mechanisms but requires also the acquisition of adaptations that permit co-existence with potential competitors."<ref name=Mayr274>Mayr, Ernst (1985). [https://books.google.com/books?id=pHThtE2R0UQC ''The growth of biological thought: diversity, evolution, and inheritance.''] Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|0-674-36446-5}}, pp. 274–5.</ref>