Consider the following scenario. Spiders engage in a reprodu…
Consider the following scenario. Spiders engage in a reproductive process called sexual cannibalism. After mating, females prey on the males which provide additional nutrients to aid reproduction and increase the survivability of offspring. Some male spiders evolved an escape behavior that sometimes allowed them to escape sexual cannibalism. A research team sampled 10 spider mating events and recorded the number of males that survived out of 10 by engaging in this escape behavior. If escape behavior does not influence the survival of male spiders, then the probability of surviving a mating event would be 0.5. Assuming a Binomial distribution, they calculated the following table listing the probabilities of each outcome (0-10). Number of Males Survived Pr[X] 0 0.000977 1 0.009766 2 0.043945 3 0.117188 4 0.205078 5 0.246094 6 0.205078 7 0.117188 8 0.043945 9 0.009766 10 0.000977 Assume the research team observed that 9 of 10 male spiders survive mating events. Using all the information above, answer the following questions. 1. What is the null hypothesis and the two-sided, alternative hypothesis? 2. What is the probability (p-value) that the researchers observe 9 surviving male spiders or a value more extreme if the null hypothesis is true? 3. Do you reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis? What is the biological interpretation of your result? Note: You are not required to “show work” to earn credit. Simply answer the questions in their entirety. However, if you struggle to complete a question, showing work or explaining the thought process can be grounds for partial credit!
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