Reference no: EM133908455
Question 1: How do you interpret the results of the epaulet coloration study in terms of sexual selection? The results of the study indicate a correlation between bright red epaulets and the ability to acquire a mate and nesting territory.
Question 2: In terms of the handicap hypothesis, females might see males with bright coloration as the fittest individuals since they were able to survive despite red epaulets being a detrimental trait.
Question 3: What is the hypothesis being tested in this study? The hypothesis is that both number of active nests and first egg production are correlated with tail length.
Question 4: Explain how the results either support or counter this hypothesis. The results support the hypothesis because there are definite trends - number of active nests shows a positive correlation with tail length while day of first egg production shows a negative correlation. The data indicate that males with longer tails tend to have more active nests in their territory and have eggs in those nests more quickly.
Question 5: How do you interpret the results of this experiment in terms of sexual selection?
The results of this experiment indicate that females choose males with the longest tail lengths more often.
Question 6: What was the purpose of Groups 2 and 3 in this experiment? Boost your grades with expert assignment help today!
Group 2 served as a control in the study while Group 3 served as an indicator of more traits that may be at play besides tail length alone.
Question 7: Nothing in biology comes without a cost. Describe an experiment you could conduct to followup on the results of the tail length manipulation experiment to explore the potential costs of longer tail length in males. Do you think there is any evidence that natural selection has acted on the potential costs of long tails already?
A followup experiment could investigate the rates of predation on widowbirds with the manipulated tails. Predators would be introduced to the habitat and the effect of their presence could be observed. If there are costs to having long tails, I'm sure natural selection has already had an effect.