Chapter 16, Problem 9STP

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The type of adaptation shown by a bird with a coloring pattern similar to feathers of another bird and explain its importance

Introduction:

An adaptation is a trait shaped by natural selection that increases an organism’s reproductive success by increasing its chance of survival. Fitness is a measure of relative contribution an individual trait makes to the next generation. It is measured as the number of reproductively viable offspring an organism produces in next generation.

Answer to Problem 9STP

The type of adaptation shown by a bird with a coloring pattern similar to feathers of another bird that produces a poisonous chemical in its tissue is mimicry.

Mimicry protects the animals from its predators.

Explanation of Solution

Mimicry is a type of morphological adaptation. In this type one species evolves to resemble another species. Mimicry increases the fitness of an organism thus increasing the reproductive success also. A harmless species may show mimicry of a harmful species. In this case a bird mimics the coloring pattern of feathers of another bird that produces a chemical in its tissues that is poisonous to its predators. In both the cases the mimics are protected because the predators cannot differentiate the mimic from the animal it is mimicking.