Evolution
4th Edition
ISBN: 9781605356051
Author: Douglas Futuyma, Mark Kirkpatrick
Publisher: SINAUER
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Chapter 3, Problem 6PDT
Summary Introduction
To explain: The way in which natural selection prepares organisms for future events.
Introduction: Natural selection has no insight; it prepares the organisms for future events. For example, deciduous trees at high latitude drop their leaves before winter arrives in the spring, and animals such as squirrels and jays store food as winter approaches.
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If natural selection has no foresight,how can it explain features that seem to prepare organisms for future events? For example, deciduous trees at high latitudes drop their leaves before winter arrives, male birds establish territories before females arrive in the spring, and animals such as squirrels and jays store food as winter approaches.
While the French biologist LaMarck was correct in proposing that evolution does occur, he believed that the long necks of giraffes evolved as generations of giraffes reached for ever higher leaves on the trees. Using these observations, LaMarck proposed the theory that evolution occurs due to the inheritance of characteristics acquired during an organism’s lifetime. From what you know about the scientific method, why is this incorrect?
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- Why might natural selection act more strongly on traits that improve reproductive success early in life rather than later in life?arrow_forwardMany species of animals make alarm calls, which warn others in their group that a predator is approaching. Alarm calls also attract the atten- tion of the predator, making it more likely that the individual making the call will be eaten. Why might natural selection favor the evolution of alarm calls in a species? How might you test that hypothesis?arrow_forwardIf a person scatters a handful of plant seeds from one species in an area, how would natural selection work in this situation?arrow_forward
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- What effect does the level at which natural selection operates (genes, individuals, or groups) have on human free will?arrow_forwardNatural selection occurs when which of the following conditions are met? Individual organisms depend on each other to obtain available resources • Variations between individual organisms lead to differential survival chances Habitat and nutrient resources in an area are plentiful over a long period of time The conditions in an ecosystem support a wide range of living organismsarrow_forwardThis spectacular animal is a Lesser Bird of Paradise, Paradisea minor, from the highlands of Papua New Guinea. In the context of various evolutionary phenomena, why is this bird confined to New Guinea and two nearby islands? Why would you not expect to find it in the mountains of Borneo? This spectacular tail presumably attracts predators; why hasn't natural selection acted to reduce it or camouflage it?arrow_forward
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