Throughout the story of the evolution of parasites, we frequently see a shift from parasites that seriously harmed their hosts, to those who evolve benign, nearly commensal relationships with their hosts. Evaluate why parasites are more likely to evolve

"live and let live" relationships while predators do not.

What will be an ideal response?


Although both predators and parasites depend on their prey or hosts (respectively) as a food source, the key difference is that parasites often depend on their hosts as their habitat as well. A parasite that kills its host too quickly has literally eaten itself out of house and home. Natural selection would favor parasite species that keep their hosts alive much longer so that the parasites could live long, reproductive lives in their hosts.

Biology & Microbiology

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Research has shown that commercial fisheries place selective pressure on fish populations by harvesting mostly the

____ fish, resulting in ____.

a. young; aging populations b. larger; maturity at smaller sizes c. smaller; maturity at larger sizes d. prereproductive; declining birth rates e. postreproductive; no change in population size

Biology & Microbiology

Which describes why meiosis promotes genetic variability?

A. Meiosis produces four gametes that have half the same number of chromosomes of the parent cell B. Meiosis produces four gametes that have twice the same number of chromosomes of the parent cell C. Meiosis produces four gametes that have the same number of chromosomes of the parent cell D. Meiosis produces four gametes that have four times the same number of chromosomes of the parent cell

Biology & Microbiology

A neuron's __________ receive signals, and its __________ transmits signals.

Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).

Biology & Microbiology

Answer the following questions true (T) or false (F)

1. Errors never occur in DNA replication because the DNA polymerases edit out mistakes. 2. Most point mutations have immediate, drastic effects on an organism. 3. The process by which genetic information in DNA is copied into RNA is called translation.

Biology & Microbiology