Short Answer 1 (10 pts. total) Bird species such as pelicans…
Short Answer 1 (10 pts. total) Bird species such as pelicans, black eagles, and cattle egrets practice siblicide, in which an older, larger chick will attack, and often eventually kill, its younger sibling. A question central to the understanding of siblicide is why parents lay extra eggs in the first place, if these ‘marginal’ chicks are unlikely to survive. a. Describe one adaptive benefit that parents can gain from producing additional chicks, if the species is obligately siblicidal. (3 pts.) b. Mock et al. (1990) conducted an experiment in which size disparities between junior and senior cattle egret chicks were manipulated by switching eggs across nests. Briefly describe the experimental results from the Figure, below, comparing the ‘synchronous’ and the ‘normal’ conditions, and how they make sense in light of the ‘rules’ for the escalation of contests. (7 pts.). PLEASE LABEL YOUR ANSWERS WITH (a) and (b).
Read DetailsIntegrative 1 (20 pts. total) While staying up late one nigh…
Integrative 1 (20 pts. total) While staying up late one night, you watch a YouTube video that features rare animals from the Bornean rainforest. One of the species shown in the video is a small marsupial (mammal with a pouch) that you have never heard of before. Several different species of figs make up the bulk of this animal’s diet, and individual males fiercely defend trees with within distinct territories. Females tend to prefer males with the best fig resources; they often mate with a male after assessing the quality of his figs. Males have striking white coats with huge black spots, whereas females’ coats are dull and brown. Males also have unusually large floppy ears. a. What type of mating system (be very specific) would you expect this species to exhibit? Explain your answer (5 pts.). b. Name and describe one process that would, over evolutionary time, cause males’ spots to become more pronounced and males’ ears to become larger and floppier (5 pts.). c. When males meet at territory boundaries, they display by head-bobbing at one another. Describe one factor that would lead both males to escalate their displays to include physical aggression (4 pts.). d. Use the gamete order hypothesis to explain why male care is unlikely to occur in this species (6 pts.) PLEASE LABEL YOUR ANSWERS WITH (a), (b), (c) and (d).
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