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Chapter 18: Problem 4

Which is an example of an adaptation? a. The better nutrition of a human helps her grow taller. b. The webbed feet of a duck help it swim. c. The urban location of a raccoon helps it find food. d. The large leaves of a desert plant require more water.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Option b, the webbed feet of a duck, is an adaptation.

Step by step solution

01

Understand Adaptations

Adaptations are traits or characteristics that have evolved over time through natural selection, enabling organisms to survive and reproduce in their environments.
02

Evaluate Each Option

Analyze each provided option to determine if it represents a trait that has evolved to provide an advantage in the organism's specific environment.
03

Analyze Option a

The better nutrition of a human helps her grow taller: This is not an adaptation but a result of environmental factors, specifically nutrition.
04

Analyze Option b

The webbed feet of a duck help it swim: This trait provides a clear advantage for surviving in aquatic environments, representing a biological adaptation.
05

Analyze Option c

The urban location of a raccoon helps it find food: This statement describes behavior influenced by location, not a physical or genetic adaptation.
06

Analyze Option d

The large leaves of a desert plant require more water: This trait is disadvantageous in a desert environment where water is scarce, thus it is not an adaptation.
07

Select the Right Answer

Identify the option that represents an evolved trait providing an environmental advantage. Option b, the webbed feet of a duck, is the correct example of an adaptation.

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Key Concepts

These are the key concepts you need to understand to accurately answer the question.

natural selection
Natural selection is a fundamental concept in biology explaining how species evolve. It鈥檚 the process where individuals with traits that are better suited for their environment survive and reproduce more than those that are not. Over time, this leads to changes in the traits of a population.
In essence, natural selection acts like a filter. Traits that are beneficial for survival and reproduction get 'selected' and become more common. For example, if webbed feet help ducks swim better, those with webbed feet are more likely to survive and pass on this trait to their offspring.
Natural selection is crucial because it drives adaptation, allowing species to become finely tuned to their environments.
evolutionary traits
Evolutionary traits are characteristics that have developed in a species over generations through the process of evolution. These traits can be physical, such as webbed feet in ducks or be behavioral, like the migratory patterns of birds.
Evolutionary traits are shaped by genetic changes. When a trait provides a significant advantage in survival or reproduction, it becomes more common in the population over time.
The webbed feet of ducks, for instance, did not appear suddenly. They evolved gradually, with each generation of ducks possessing slightly more webbed feet, which improved their swimming capability and gave them a higher chance of survival. This is a classic example of how evolutionary traits develop.
environmental survival
Environmental survival refers to how well an organism can live and reproduce in its specific habitat. This is often heavily influenced by adaptations that have been honed by natural selection.
For instance, desert plants have adaptations like thick, water-storing leaves to survive the harsh, dry climate. These adaptations address the unique challenges posed by their environment.
Webbed feet in ducks also improve their environmental survival by making them efficient swimmers. This is crucial for finding food and evading predators in aquatic settings.
Overall, environmental survival is about the dynamic relationship between an organism鈥檚 traits and its habitat. Adaptations that improve this relationship boost the organism's chances of thriving in its environment.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

A friend says: 鈥淣atural selection is about the survival of the very fittest in a population. The fittest are those that are strongest, largest, fastest.鈥� Would you agree with that statement? Explain. What evidence from scientific disciplines can you offer to support your agreement or your disagreement? a. The statement is true. If an organism is not strong and fast, it will not survive long enough to reproduce and pass on its genes, and if it is not large and fitter than the other individuals around it then it will not be able to compete for a mate. Many seal species, for example, have only a single male who gets to mate. He must be the very fittest seal to win all the females. b. The very fittest organisms are not necessarily the ones that survive. Sometimes it is the least fit organisms that survive and reproduce. For example, in one generation the mice who are bad at foraging for seeds may reproduce prolifically and dominate the mice who are good at foraging. In this case, natural selection will select for the less-fit phenotype and spread it in the population. c. The definition of fitness is not correct. The strongest and fastest organisms are more fit than the weaker and slower ones, but large individuals are often at a disadvantage to smaller ones because they are easily spotted by predators. For example, a large rabbit will stick out on a field more than a small one and will get eaten by a hawk. d. What is meant by 鈥渇ittest鈥� is not necessarily strong, large, and fast. Fitness, as defined in evolutionary terms, has to do with survival and the reproduction of genetic material. For example, a small but showy male bird may be selected by female birds to reproduce, while a large but less colorful one is not.

Assuming a population that has genetic variation and is under the influence of natural selection, place the following events in the order in which they would occur: 鈥� Genetic frequencies within the population change. 鈥� A change occurs in the population鈥檚 environment. 鈥� Phenotypic variations shift. 鈥� Individuals who are well-adapted leave more offspring than individuals who are poorly adapted. 鈥� Individuals who are poorly adapted do not survive at the same rate as individuals who are well adapted. a. 1. A change occurs in the population鈥檚 environment. 2\. Individuals who are poorly adapted do not survive at the same rate as individuals who are well adapted. 3\. Individuals who are well-adapted leave more offspring than individuals who are poorly adapted. 4\. Genetic frequencies within the population change. 5\. Phenotypic variations shift. b. 1. A change occurs in the population鈥檚 environment. 2\. Genetic frequencies within the population change. 3\. Phenotypic variations shift. 4\. Individuals who are poorly adapted do not survive at the same rate as individuals who are well adapted. 5\. Individuals who are well-adapted leave more offspring than individuals who are poorly adapted. c. 1. Phenotypic variations shift. 2\. A change occurs in the population鈥檚 environment. 3\. Genetic frequencies within the population change. 4\. Individuals who are poorly adapted do not survive at the same rate as individuals who are well adapted. 5\. Individuals who are well-adapted leave more offspring than individuals who are poorly adapted. d. 1. Individuals who are well-adapted leave more offspring than individuals who are poorly adapted. 2\. Individuals who are poorly adapted do not survive at the same rate as individuals who are well adapted. 3\. Phenotypic variations shift. 4\. Genetic frequencies within the population change. 5\. A change occurs in the population鈥檚 environment.

Which component of speciation would be least likely to be a part of punctuated equilibrium? a. a division in populations b. a change in environmental conditions c. ongoing gene flow d. a number of mutations occuring at once

Why do scientists consider vestigial structures evidence for evolution? a. Vestigial structures are the result of convergent evolution, so they are good evidence that natural selection act similarly in similar environmental conditions. b. Vestigial structures are the result of common ancestry, so they are good evidence that different populations of organisms evolved from a common point. c. Vestigial structures are the result of convergent evolution, so they are good evidence for an end goal to evolution. d. Vestigial structures are the result of common ancestry, so they are good evidence for a common origin of all life.

Use adaptive radiation to explain the diversification of the finches Darwin observed in the Galapagos. a. The finches likely shared a common ancestor when they came to the island, but exhibited different traits. Each species of finch settled the island where its particular traits would be the most adaptive. b. The finches likely originated as one parent species, but over time mutations caused them to develop reproductive barriers and separate into different species. To reduce competition, the species then radiated out to inhabit different islands. c. The finches likely dispersed from one parent species, and natural selection based on different food sources in differing habitats led to adaptive changes, evidenced in the different beak shapes of the different species-each suited to a different food type. d. It is likely that a series of cataclysmic events caused an original finch species to diverge into the many finch species that inhabited the islands when Darwin observed them. The different species then radiated out to the different islands and adapted to the different conditions on each.
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