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
Zoology Animal Defenses What does the professor mean when she says this:
Zoology Animal Defenses What does the professor mean when she says this:
admin
2012-01-14
70
问题
Zoology Animal Defenses
What does the professor mean when she says this:
One of the most important relationships between different animal species is predation—the predator-prey interaction, in which a predator eats a prey. Predator species have several adaptations that help them catch prey species. Prey species have adaptations, too—physical and behavioral adaptations that enable them to elude predators and avoid being eaten. These defensive adaptations evolved in prey species through repeated encounters with predators over evolutionary time.
Some animal defenses are passive, such as hiding. Some defenses are active, such as escaping. Fleeing—running away—is the most direct anti-predator response, but it requires the animal to expend a lot of energy. A rabbit uses up a lot of energy running away from a lynx. Many animals avoid expending too much energy by escaping into a shelter.
Several prey species have some sort of vocalization—an alarm call—to announce the presence of a predator. The alarm call often triggers a behavioral defense called mobbing. During mobbing, the prey turns the tables and attacks the predator. For example, when a chickadee spots a threat—say, an owl—it calls out the alarm. The chickadee starts scolding the owl, sometimes actually striking it from behind. Birds of other species may fly in to investigate, and often participate in the mobbing. The other birds chase, dive-bomb, or surround the owl, usually vocalizing loudly. Their intent is to encourage the "enemy" to move on to another area.
Some animals rely on defensive coloration. A well-known example of defensive coloration is camouflage, which makes prey difficult to spot against a background of similar color. All a camouflaged animal has to do is remain still to avoid being seen. Thus, camouflage is probably the most effective passive defense. Incidentally, some predators also use camouflage, especially predators who lie in wait for prey and have to blend into their environment.
Moths that camouflage themselves to match a leaf stand a good chance of not being seen by moth-eating birds, unless, of course, the moths become so populous that a bird is likely to come across one by accident. Once the bird learns the moth’s identity, it has a search image for it, and the moth’s disguise is useless. Looking like a leaf is then no advantage because the bird will start pecking at leaves in the hope that they are moths, and it will keep doing it as long as a sufficient number do turn out to be moths.
Another animal defense is the use of chemical weapons. We’re all familiar with the chemical weapon of the skunk. Some animals—like poisonous toads and flogs—can synthesize toxins that attack the nervous system of predators. Other animals acquire chemical defenses passively. For example, some caterpillars acquire poison from the plants they eat. Then, when a bird eats the caterpillar, the bird quickly vomits. After that, the bird will avoid eating that kind of caterpillar. Some birds can remember bad-tasting meals a year later.
Another defensive adaptation is warning coloration. Animals with effective chemical defenses are often brightly colored, and there is evidence that predators are more cautious in dealing with bright color patterns in potential prey. This is probably because a lot of poisonous or bad-tasting animals are colored brightly, with black and yellow, or black and red stripes.
Warning coloration quickly trains predators to avoid eating these brightly-colored animals. Some birds have an instinctive tendency to avoid eating insects with warning coloration. For example, young warblers leave wasps alone because the birds recognize the danger in the black and yellow stripes of the wasp. However, warning coloration is not an absolute defense, as there is also evidence showing that many birds occasionally feed on bees and wasps, perhaps after learning to cope with their chemical defenses.
选项
A、Some birds have discovered that brightly-colored insects taste good.
B、Some birds have chemical defenses similar to those of insects.
C、Some birds appear able to manage the poison of bees and wasps.
D、Some birds may have forgotten the meaning of bright coloration.
答案
C
解析
What does the professor mean when she says this:
"However, warning coloration is not an absolute defense, as there is also evidence showing that many birds occasionally feed on bees and wasps, perhaps after learning to cope with their chemical defenses."
The professor means that some birds appear able to manage the poison of bees and wasps. Many birds eat bees and wasps, perhaps after learning to cope with their chemical defenses, which suggests that birds may develop ways to counteract the insects’ chemical weapons. (2.4)
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/rUyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions27-40whicharebasedonReadingPassage3below.THEINGENUITYGAPIngenuity,as
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions27-40,whicharebasedonReadingPassage3below.ArtificialartistsCancompute
Youshouldspendabout20minutesonQuestions1-13,whicharebasedonReadingPassage1below.TheForgottenForestFoundonly
Thefirststagesintheactualrestorationwillinvolvedelicatesurfacecleaning,usingasmallvacuumsuctiondevice.Oncethe
Howdidthestudentgettheuniversityprospectus?(only)assessed
Whatpercentageofthestudentsaremature?Theuniversityaccommodationserviceshavea______thatstudentscanlookthrough
PrairieDogbarkshave______meanings.Whatkindofanimalisthegreat-hornedowl?
Theuniversityhasproduceda______toinformstudentsaboutthedifferentaccommodationoptionsavailable.GrampianHalls
WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.WhatTHREEitemsofclothingdoesthespeakerrecommendfortherainforest?
Whenwerethefollowingfeaturesincludedinanautoshow?Writethecorrectletter,A,B,orCnexttoquestions17-20.Alast
随机试题
男女恋爱中的基本道德要求有以下几个方面()。
小青龙汤主要体现“温肺化饮”功用的药物是
甲公司因无出口自营权,委托乙外贸公司代理出口其产品,乙外贸公司以自己的名义与国外买方订立了出口合同,并且未向买方透露代理关系。根据《中华人民共和国合同法》,下列表述正确的是_________。
根据《银行业监督管理法》的规定,银行业金融机构违反审慎经营规则且逾期未改正的,国务院银行业监督管理机构可以对其采取下列哪些措施?()
变更控制的原则之一是工程项目()等内容相互作用、相互影响、综合协调。
风险评价的方法主要有()。
没收违法所得、没收非法财物属于行政责任。()
根据以下资料,回答101—105题某家公司分别对某市三家酒店的一百名消费者进行问卷调查,下图是对这三家酒店的七类项目的满意度进行评价的结果统计图:根据材料可知,下列说法中正确的是()。
设A、B、C是三角形的3条边,则以下表示“任意两边之和大于第三边”的布尔表达式是
A、Anightshowofentertainment.B、Abook.C、Anationalnewspaper.D、Ajournal.C根据句(1)可知,这个访谈是一档晚间节目——书之智慧,节目中邀请到《今日美国》的主编Mr.Ph
最新回复
(
0
)