People tend to crave sweet and salty foods, but dislike bitter foods. What is the evolutionary explanation for this? What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: During our evolution, obtaining basic dietary needs was a struggle so craving foods that
would benefit us was valuable. Sweet foods are rich in simple sugars and represent a
valuable source of energy. Salty foods contain sodium chloride, and sodium was historically
difficult to obtain. Conversely, foods that are bitter commonly contain plant toxins and the
taste served as a warning not to eat that particular plant.
You might also like to view...
You will be learning much about evolution in this course. A friend says to you that evolution isn't true because it's "just a theory." How would you respond to this?
What will be an ideal response?
In cocker spaniels, black coat color (B) is dominant over red (b), and solid color (S) is dominant over
spotted (s). If two dihybrids (Bb Ss) were crossed, the most common phenotype would be a. black and solid. b. black and spotted. c. red and solid. d. red and spotted. e. none of these.
Scientists have identified and named
a. all living species b. all living and extinct species c. all extinct species d. a fraction of all species
Human viruses that have appeared suddenly or have only recently come to the attention of medical scientists are called _____________.
A. retroviruses B. bacteriophages C. emerging viruses D. viroids