Galápagos plants show repeated evolution and emerging species, emphasizing evolution’s flexibility and active role today.
The Galápagos Islands have long stood as a living laboratory of evolution, but their story is far from finished. Nearly two centuries after Darwin’s famous finches reshaped our understanding of life, new research reveals that evolution on these remote islands is still unfolding in unexpected ways.
When Charles Darwin arrived in 1835 aboard the HMS Beagle, he collected birds that he later studied in England. At first, he thought they included sparrows, woodpeckers, finches, and even a single tit. He later realized they were all closely related finches, with differences in their beaks reflecting adaptations to different diets.
This became a classic example of parallel evolution, where similar traits emerge more than once but through different genetic routes.
Darwin’s observations of these finches helped support his theory of evolution by natural selection, showing how species can change over time in response to their environments.
“More than 150 years after Darwin’s work on the Galápagos transformed our understanding of life on Earth, these islands continue to reveal new biology,” says Professor Michael D. Martin at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) University Museum.
Ongoing Discoveries in Galápagos Science
Martin is part of a global research team that includes scientists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; the University of California, Davis; the University of Copenhagen; the Charles Darwin Foundation in the Galápagos; the University of Georgia, Athens; the University of British Columbia; and other institutions. Together, they examined evolution in the plant genus Scalesia, often called the Galápagos giant daisies. Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications.
“Just like Darwin’s famous finches, these plants evolved rapidly after arriving on the Galápagos from mainland South America,” says Vanessa Bieker of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the study’s lead author.
The Scalesia genus is relatively young, with all existing species emerging within the past one million years. Despite this short timespan, they have adapted to a wide range of island environments, from humid highland forests to dry lowland areas.
“The appearance of different species varies dramatically, from low shrubs to tall trees. Most striking are the leaves, which range from large and entire to small and deeply lobed,” says Martin.
Leaf Adaptations and Genetic Mysteries
Lobed leaves, often with complex and jagged edges, are believed to help these plants cope with heat and dryness by limiting water loss and improving heat release. Until now, scientists did not know how this trait developed at the genetic level.
By sequencing the full genomes of all known Scalesia species, the team found that lobed leaves evolved multiple times, appearing independently in different branches of the family tree.
Some populations may already be on separate evolutionary paths. Many Scalesia groups could represent unique lineages that have not yet been formally classified as distinct species.
Parallel Evolution and Genetic Pathways
“Even more surprising was that each time this trait evolved, it did so through different genes—even though all of them belong to the same biological system controlling leaf development,” says Bieker.
“This provides a clear example of parallel evolution: nature arriving at the same solution multiple times, but through different genetic pathways. Instead of being controlled by a single ‘master gene,’ evolution appears to draw on an entire network of interacting genes, tweaking different components to produce similar outcomes.”
Repeated Trait Evolution and Ongoing Speciation
These findings offer new insight into how complex traits can evolve repeatedly in nature.
The study also shows that evolution in these plants is still happening today.
“Populations within the same species show large genetic differences and have been isolated from one another for long periods. This means new species may be in the process of forming. Many Scalesia populations may represent distinct evolutionary lineages that have not yet been formally described,” says Martin.
Conservation Implications and Evolution in Action
The researchers suggest that each isolated population should be treated as its own conservation unit, which could change how the Galápagos ecosystem is protected in the future. Their work also provides a detailed view of how a single species can quickly branch into many distinct forms.
“Our findings highlight the flexibility and creativity of evolution,” says Bieker.
She notes that Darwin also collected many plant specimens during his time in the Galápagos. Seventy-eight of these were later identified as entirely new species, including four types of Scalesia.
Reference: “The genomic basis of adaptive leaf variation in the Galápagos giant daisies” by Vanessa C. Bieker, Siyu Li, José Cerca, Paul Battlay, Mohsen Falahati Anbaran, Amit Sharma, Patricia Jaramillo Díaz, Mario Fernández-Mazuecos, Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, Sarah L. F. Martin, Luisa Santos-Bay, Gitte Petersen, Ole Seberg, Pablo Vargas, Rasmus Nielsen, M. Thomas P. Gilbert, Gonzalo Rivas-Torres, James Leebens-Mack, Loren H. Rieseberg, Lene R. Nielsen, Neelima Sinha and Michael D. Martin, 16 April 2026, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-71865-3
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