The different species of Galapagos finches, with their specially evolved beaks that allow them to eat specific foods, helped Charles Darwin understand that organisms can evolve over time to better survive in their environment. 

Now, nearly 200 years later and thousands of miles away, biologists are learning some surprising lessons about evolution from northern Norwegian populations of the humble house sparrow (Passer domesticus).

Darwin’s finches evolved on the exotic, volcanic Galapagos Islands. NTNU’s house sparrows are dispersed over a group of 18 islands in Helgeland, in an archipelago that straddles the Arctic Circle.

Every summer since 1993, when NTNU Professor Bernt-Erik Sæther initiated the House Sparrow Project, a group of biologists has travelled to the islands collect data on the sparrows. They capture baby birds, measure different parts of their bodies, take a tiny blood sample, and then put a unique combination of coloured rings on their legs that help researchers identify the birds throughout their lifetime.

Those decades of research have given researchers information that can be helpful in managing threatened and endangered species. They have also done some experiments where they made evolution happen in real time — and then watched what happened when they let nature run its course.

And then there was the series of experiments where they learned more than you might want to know about sparrow dating preferences, and about rogue sparrow fathers who court exhausted sparrow mothers — and then fathered children with the cute little she-bird next door.

Our guests for today’s show were Henrik Jensen, Thor Harald Ringsby and Stefanie Muff.

You can find a transcript of the show here.

Selected academic and popular science articles:

 From NTNU’s online research magazine, Norwegian SciTech News:

Why aren’t house sparrows as big as geese?

Inbreeding detrimental for survival

Why house sparrows lay big and small eggs

On Darwin

Darwin, Charles (1859) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. London: J. Murray.

 Weiner, J. (2014). The beak of the finch: A story of evolution in our time. Random House.

Sulloway, F. J. (1982). Darwin and his finches: The evolution of a legend. Journal of the History of Biology, 15, 1-53.

 Sulloway, F. J. (1982). Darwin's conversion: the Beagle voyage and its aftermath. Journal of the History of Biology, 15,  325-396.

Academic articles from the House Sparrow Project:

• Araya-Ajoy, Yimen; Ranke, Peter Sjolte; Kvalnes, Thomas; Rønning, Bernt; Holand, Håkon; Myhre, Ane Marlene; Pärn, Henrik; Jensen, Henrik; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Wright, Jonathan. (2019) Characterizing morphological (co)variation using structural equation models: Body size, allometric relationships and evolvability in a house sparrow metapopulation. Evolution. vol. 73 (3).
• Kvalnes, Thomas; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Jensen, Henrik; Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Rønning, Bernt; Pärn, Henrik; Holand, Håkon; Engen, Steinar; Sæther, Bernt-Erik. (2017) Reversal of response to artificial selection on body size in a wild passerine bird. Evolution. vol. 71 (8).
• Ringsby, Thor Harald; Jensen, Henrik; Pärn, Henrik; Kvalnes, Thomas; Boner, Winnie; Gillespie, Robert; Holand, Håkon; Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Rønning, Bernt; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Monaghan, Pat. (2015) On being the right size: Increased body size is associated with reduced telomere length under natural conditions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. vol. 282 (1820).
• Ranke, Peter Sjolte; Skjelseth, Sigrun; Pärn, Henrik; Herfindal, Ivar; Borg Pedersen, Åsa Alexandra; Stokke, Bård Gunnar; Kvalnes, Thomas; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Jensen, Henrik. (2017) Demographic influences of translocated individuals on a resident population of house sparrows. Oikos. vol. 126 (10).
• Jensen, Henrik; Steinsland, Ingelin; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik. (2006) Indirect selection as a constraint on the evolution of sexual ornaments and other morphological traits in the House Sparrow. Journal of Ornithology = Journal fur Ornithologie. vol. 147.
• Jensen, Henrik; Svorkmo-Lundberg, Torkild; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik. (2006) Environmental influence and cohort effects in a sexual ornament in the house sparrow, Passer domesticus. Oikos. vol. 114.
• Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Jensen, Henrik; Engen, Steinar. (2006) Demographic characteristics of extinction in a small, insular population of house sparrows in Northern Norway. Conservation Biology. vol. 20.
• Skjelseth, Sigrun; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Jensen, Henrik; Tufto, Jarle; Sæther, Bernt-Erik. (2006) Dispersal patterns within a meta-population of House Sparrows after an introduction experiment. Journal of Ornithology = Journal fur Ornithologie. vol. 147.
• Hoset, Katrine S.; Espmark, Yngve; Fossøy, Frode; Stokke, Bård Gunnar; Jensen, Henrik; Wedege, Morten I; Moksnes, Arne. (2014) Extra-pair paternity in relation to regional and local climate in an Arctic-breeding passerine. Polar Biology. vol. 37 (1).
• Ranke, Peter Sjolte; Skjelseth, Sigrun; Pärn, Henrik; Herfindal, Ivar; Borg Pedersen, Åsa Alexandra; Stokke, Bård Gunnar; Kvalnes, Thomas; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Jensen, Henrik. (2017) Demographic influences of translocated individuals on a resident population of house sparrows. Oikos. vol. 126 (10).
• Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Lien, Sigbjørn; Billing, Anna Maria; Elgvin, Tore Oldeide; Trier, Cassandra Nicole; Niskanen, Alina Katariina; Tarka, Maja; Slate, Jon; Sætre, Glenn-Peter; Jensen, Henrik. (2020) A genome-wide linkage map for the house sparrow (Passer domesticus) provides insights into the evolutionary history of the avian genome. Molecular Ecology Resources. vol. 20 (2).
• Holand, Håkon; Jensen, Henrik; Kvalnes, Thomas; Tufto, Jarle; Pärn, Henrik; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Ringsby, Thor Harald. (2019) Parasite prevalence increases with temperature in an avian metapopulation in northern Norway. Parasitology. vol. 146 (8).
• Kvalnes, Thomas; Røberg, Anja Ås; Jensen, Henrik; Holand, Håkon; Pärn, Henrik; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Ringsby, Thor Harald. (2018) Offspring fitness and the optimal propagule size in a fluctuating environment. Journal of Avian Biology. vol. 49 (7).
• Lundregan, Sarah; Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Gohli, Jostein; Niskanen, Alina Katariina; Kemppainen, Petri; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Kvalnes, Thomas; Pärn, Henrik; Rønning, Bernt; Holand, Håkon; Ranke, Peter Sjolte; Båtnes, Anna Solvang; Selvik, Linn-Karina M.; Lien, Sigbjørn; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Husby, Arild; Jensen, Henrik. (2018) Inferences of genetic architecture of bill morphology in house sparrow using a high-density SNP array point to a polygenic basis. Molecular Ecology. vol. 27 (17).
• Silva, Catarina; McFarlane, S. Eryn; Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Rönnegård, Lars; Billing, Anna Maria; Kvalnes, Thomas; Kemppainen, Petri; Rønning, Bernt; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Qvarnström, Anna; Ellegren, Hans; Jensen, Henrik; Husby, Arild. (2017) Insights into the genetic architecture of morphological and sexually selected traits in two passerine bird species. Heredity. vol. 119 (3).
• Stubberud, Marlene Wæge; Myhre, Ane Marlene; Holand, Håkon; Kvalnes, Thomas; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Jensen, Henrik. (2017) Sensitivity analysis of effective population size to demographic parameters in house sparrow populations. Molecular Ecology. vol. 26 (9).
• Holand, Håkon; Kvalnes, Thomas; Gamelon, Marlène; Tufto, Jarle; Jensen, Henrik; Pärn, Henrik; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Sæther, Bernt-Erik. (2016) Spatial variation in senescence rates in a bird metapopulation. Oecologia. vol. 181 (3).
• Rønning, Bernt; Broggi, Juli; Bech, Claus; Moe, Børge; Ringsby, Thor Harald; Pärn, Henrik; Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Jensen, Henrik; Grindstaff, Jennifer. (2016) Is basal metabolic rate associated with recruit production and survival in free-living house sparrows?. Functional Ecology. vol. 30 (7).
• Holand, Håkon; Jensen, Henrik; Tufto, Jarle; Pärn, Henrik; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Ringsby, Thor Harald. (2015) Endoparasite infection has both short- and long-term negative effects on reproductive success of female house sparrows, as revealed by faecal parasitic egg counts. PLOS ONE. vol. 10 (5).
• Ringsby, Thor Harald; Jensen, Henrik; Pärn, Henrik; Kvalnes, Thomas; Boner, Winnie; Gillespie, Robert; Holand, Håkon; Hagen, Ingerid Julie; Rønning, Bernt; Sæther, Bernt-Erik; Monaghan, Pat. (2015) On being the right size: Increased body size is associated with reduced telomere length under natural conditions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Biological Sciences. vol. 282 (1820).

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