Male hummingbirds flash a patch of iridescent feathers on their neck called the gorget. This behavior makes them very visible. Why advertise their presence to a predator?
A. Hummingbirds are so fast that predation is not a large factor for them.
B. Predators cannot see colors so are not alerted.
C. The benefits of defending a territory exceed the costs of predation.
D. This is an example of a maladaptive behavior that decreases overall fitness.
Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?
Gather Content:
What do you already know about the tradeoff of being visible to potential mates and predators? What other information is related to the question?
Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
Reflection:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
C. The benefits of defending a territory exceed the costs of predation.
Clarify question:
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
Determining the advantages of a male hummingbird's highly visible plumage.
What type of thinking is required?
This is an analyze question, all of the choices are potential explanations for the presence of a bright iridescent path on the hummingbird’s plumage. Only one of the choices is correct.
Gather Content:
What do you already know about the tradeoff of being visible to potential mates and predators? What other information is related to the question?
The main goal of any organism is to survive and pass on its genes. Something that may seem maladaptive (having bright patches of feather) may have an advantage that outweighs the costs. The key to this question is to recognize the concept of an evolutionary trade-off. Only one of the choices explains the presence of a gorget in the context of an evolutionary trade-off. Behaviors that decrease overall fitness are very rapidly selected out of a population. Hummingbirds certainly face predation and many predators use vision to detect prey.
Answer:
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
The gorget helps the hummingbird maintain a specific territory. By monopolizing a territory the male hummingbird can have greater access to females, increasing his chance of passing on his genes.
Reflection:
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
Were you able to get the correct answer? Recognizing and understand the concept of an evolutionary trade-off is the key to this question.
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