首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
COST AND BENEFITS OF SOCIAL LIFE (1) Many think that the reason why so many animals live with others of their species is tha
COST AND BENEFITS OF SOCIAL LIFE (1) Many think that the reason why so many animals live with others of their species is tha
admin
2022-09-29
34
问题
COST AND BENEFITS OF SOCIAL LIFE
(1) Many think that the reason why so many animals live with others of their species is that social creatures are higher up the evolutionary scale and so are better adapted and leave more offspring than do animals that live solitary lives. However, in each and every species, generation after generation, relatively social and relatively solitary types compete unconsciously with one another in ways that determine who leaves more offspring on average. In some species, the more social individuals have won out, but in a large majority, it is the solitary types that have consistently left more surviving descendants on average.
(2) But how can living alone ever be superior to living together? Under some conditions, a cost-benefit comparison favors solitary life over a more social existence. For example, among most social species, animals have to expend time and energy competing for social status. Those that do not occupy the top positions regularly have to signal their submissive state to their superiors if they are to be permitted to remain in the group. This can take up a major share of a social subordinate’s life. In fact, even in small social groups there are both subtle competition and not-so-subtle competition.
(3) Social groups also offer opportunities for reproductive interference. Breeding males that live in close association with more attractive rivals may lose their mates to these individuals. In addition, sociality has two other potential disadvantages. The first is heightened competition for food, which occurs in animals as different as colonial fieldfares (a kind of songbird) and groups of lions, whose females are often pushed from their food by hungry males. [A] The second is increased vulnerability to parasites and diseases, which plague social species of all sorts. [B] While it is true that some social animals have evolved special responses designed to combat parasites and diseases, those responses can only reduce, but cannot totally eliminate, the damage caused by those threats, and the responses may even carry their own costs. [C] Thus, honeybees warm their hives in response to an infestation by a fungal pathogen, which apparently helps kill the heat-sensitive fungus, but at the price of time and energy expended by the heat-producing workers. [D]
(4) If social living carries a heightened risk of infection, then the larger the group, the greater the risk. This prediction holds for cliff swallows, which pack their nests side by side in colonies composed of anywhere from a handful of birds to several thousand pairs. The more swallows nesting together, the greater the chance that at least one bird will be infested with swallow bugs, which can then readily spread from one nest to another.
(5) The parasites and fungi that make life miserable for swallows and other social creatures demonstrate that if sociality is to evolve, the assorted costs of living together must be outweighed by compensatory benefits. Cliff swallows may join others to take advantage of the improved foraging that comes from following companions to good feeding sites, while other animals, such as male imperial penguins, save thermal energy by huddling shoulder to shoulder during the brutal Antarctica winter. Still others, such as lionesses, join forces to fend off enemies of their own species.
(6) The most widespread fitness benefit for social animals, however, probably is improved protection against predators. Many studies have shown that animals in groups gain by reducing the individual risk of being captured, or by spotting danger sooner, or by attacking their enemies in groups. Males in nesting colonies of bluegills cooperate in driving egg-eating bullhead catfish away from their nests at the bottom of a freshwater lake. While bluegills have adopted social behavior to avoid predation, closely related species that nest alone have evolved means to protect themselves while nesting alone. Thus, the solitary pumpkinseed sunfish, a member of the same genus as the bluegill, has a powerful biting jaw and so can repel egg-eating enemies on its own, whereas bluegills have small, delicate mouths good only for inhaling small, soft-bodied insect larvae. Pumpkinseed sunfish are in no way inferior to or less well adapted than bluegills because they are solitary; they simply gain less through social living, which makes solitary nesting the adaptive tactic for them.
According to paragraph 3, which of the following is likely to increase when animals live with other members of their species rather than alone?
选项
A、reproductive success
B、unpredictable behavior among males
C、resistance to diseases
D、competition for food
答案
D
解析
本题属于事实信息题,问根据第3段,当动物与其他同物种成员群居而非独居时,哪种情况更可能发生。原文第3段第4句提到,群居还有另外两个潜在的劣势,其中一个是食物竞争变得更加激烈,因此,D项“竞争食物”为正确答案。A项“繁殖成功”错误,第3段第1、2句说明,群居使繁殖变得更难。B项“雄性问不可预测的行为”没有依据。C项“对疾病的抵抗力”错误,第3段第5句提到,群居的第二个潜在劣势是对寄生虫和疾病的抵抗力变弱。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/ib5O777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Outdooractivitiesforguestsgocycling-bikescanbehired-shouldbring【L6】________mountainclimbing-fireisban
Choosethecorrectletter,A,B,orC.WhywasJeninvitedtotheprofessor’spersonalproject?
Choosethecorrectletter,A,BorC.WhatdoesHowardsaywashismainconcernayearbefore?
AnimationTechnologyHistoryThomasEdison:firstcamera—1889StuartBlackton:firstanimatedfilmtechnique—u
Negative本题有关消极主义者的生活态度。由表格列名Outlook“人生观”可推测该列单词为同一词性,均修饰态度:且上下两个单词为态度相反的一组词。
ReceptionAssistant乌龟养殖业(turtlefarming)这个计划从经济角度上讲是否能成功我们还不能确定:录音中的workwell与题目处的successful为同义替换,fromaneconomicpointofview
COMPUTINGTECHNOLOGY25thCONFERENCEConferencedate:【L1】________Conferencevenue:【L2】________ReservationphoneNo.:【L3】_
A、BoringB、Comfortable.C、Tragic.D、Difficult.Dhow?does?Hemlen?Garlen?characterize?pioneer?life??
向一位著名的女作家祝贺她八十岁寿辰,这样的机会是不多的,所以我去年十月五日到冰心家里去的时候,心情非常激动。我解释说希望她给我讲一下她是怎样成为诗人的。“我已有多年没有写诗了,”她微笑说,“可是我还是爱读好诗。”冰心很幸运地有鼓励她学习和写作的父
实现这个目标易如反掌。
随机试题
社会主义中国处理民族问题基本原则中的坚持民族平等原则的实质是()
A.骨髓瘤性肾病B.过敏性紫癜肾炎C.糖尿病肾病D.微小病变型肾病E.肾淀粉样变性不属于继发性肾病综合征病因的是
下列行为属于内幕交易的有()。[2011年10月真题]
某公司生产甲产品的同时还生产了A副产品,该副产品可以直接对外出售。公司规定A副产品的售价为2.2万元/吨,当月甲产品和A副产品发生的生产成本总额为2146万元,副产品的产量为300吨。公司采用副产品作价扣除法计算副产品成本,预计销售A副产品发生的销售税费为
甲公司是一家健身器材销售公司。2×17年6月1日,甲公司向乙公司销售200件健身器材,单位销售价格为200元,单位成本为100元。协议约定,乙公司在7月31日之前有权退还健身器材。假定甲公司根据过去的经验,估计该批健身器材退货率约为10%,在不确定性消除时
简述教育科学研究和教育实践的关系。
北大新闻学研究会(清华大学2019年研;复旦大学2019年研;陕西师大2018年研;四川大学2014年研;北大2012年研;中国传媒大学2011年研;上海财大2009年研)
以下程序运行后的输出结果是【】。main(){intx,a=1,b=2,c=3,d=4;x=(a
Animalsdonoteatmorethantheirbodiesneed.Theyseemtohavethe(1)______toeatwhentheyarehungry.Ithasbeendemonst
A、Theyhaveoftenprovedtobeashelpfulasdoingmentalexercise.B、Takingthemwithothermedicationsmightentailunnecessar
最新回复
(
0
)