Deck 13: Aging and Other Life-History Characters

Question 1

At the most fundamental of levels,differences in life histories (that is,reproductive strategies)are trade-offs that are based on differences in the ________.

A) onset of reproductive maturity
B) reproductive sizes of the individuals
C) allocation of energy between individuals
D) average number of offspring produced over the life span of individuals

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Tandem repeat sequences found at the ends of chromosomes,such as TTAGGG as found in vertebrates,are known as ________.

Answer 2

telomeres

Question 3

What does the accompanying figure represent?

A) the average energy budget values between male and female sand crickets in low v. medium v. high food environments
B) the average energy budget values between long-winged and short-winged crickets in low v. medium v. high food environments
C) the average energy budget values for low v. medium v. high food environments in two different species of sand crickets
D) the average energy budget values in low v. medium v. high temperature environments for long-winged v. short-winged sand crickets

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Traits which by logic should show less genetic variation because of their close association with reproduction fall into which category?

A) life-history traits
B) behavioral traits
C) physiological traits
D) morphological traits

Question 5

According to the data shown in the accompanying figure,the reduction in reproduction rates most closely correlates with a corresponding reduction in survival in ________.

A) female collared flycatchers
B) male red deer
C) female red deer
D) fruit flies

Question 6

The decline in an individual's fertility,with a corresponding decrease in the likelihood of survival,is known as ________.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT one of the assumptions of Lack's hypothesis?

A) There is no trade-off between a parent's reproductive effort in one year and its survival or reproductive performance in future years.
B) The only effect on clutch size of offspring is in determining whether the offspring survive.
C) The discrepancy between Lack's hypothesis and the behavior of individual birds may sometimes be more apparent than real.
D) All of these are assumptions of Lack's hypothesis.

Question 8

The theory of aging that posits that aging is caused either by the accumulation of deleterious mutations later in life or by a trade-off between repair to damaged tissues and reproduction is called the ________.

A) theory of senescence
B) rate-of-living theory of aging
C) evolutionary theory of aging
D) particulate theory of aging

Question 9

The theory of aging that posits that aging is caused by irreparable damage to the cells,tissues,and organs of an organism brought about by such things as errors in protein synthesis and the accumulation of toxic metabolites is the ________.

A) theory of senescence
B) rate of living theory of aging
C) evolutionary theory of aging
D) particulate theory of aging

Question 10

In an "ideal" world,organisms that are fine-tuned for reproduction would ________.

A) mature at birth
B) produce high-quality offspring continuously and in high numbers
C) live forever
D) All of the above, taken together.

Question 11

Telomeres,tandem repeat sequences at the ends of chromosomes,generally get shorter after every cell division.The resulting mechanism involves a protein called p53,which ________.

A) puts the cell into a permanently nondividing state
B) causes the cell to enter cell senescence
C) may induce the cell to undergo programmed cell death
D) All of the above.

Question 12

Living things show a wide range of diversity where reproductive strategies are concerned.The branch of evolution devoted to the analysis of this diversity is known as ________ analysis.

Question 13

The accompanying figure represents Lack's hypothesis on clutch size.According to this hypothetical data,________.

A) the probability of survival for individual nestlings decreases linearly with each successive increase in the clutch size
B) the probability of survival for individual nestlings increases, then decreases with each successive increase in the clutch size
C) the optimal clutch size in terms of survival rates is intermediate
D) A and C are both true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 14

In terms of the size of offspring,data from different (a)fish families and (b)fruit fly species are represented in the accompanying figure.Evaluation of this data reveals that ________.

A) no relationship between these two variables has been found
B) the larger the number of offspring, the larger the eggs that are produced
C) the larger the number of offspring, the smaller the eggs that are produced
D) there is an apparent trade-off between egg size and number of offspring
E) Both C and D are accurate statements.

Question 15

Positive correlations have been found between ________.

A) telomere lengths and longevity among individuals within populations
B) telomere lengths and longevity across many species of mammals
C) telomere lengths and longevity among individuals within populations and across many species of mammals
D) neither telomere lengths and longevity among individuals within populations nor telomere lengths and longevity across many species of mammals

Question 16

Female sand crickets are known to produce two phenotypic variants: long-winged and short-winged.Moreover,these two variants have been shown to allocate different amounts of their energy budget to flight or ovary development,respectively.The development of female crickets into one or the other of these variants is due to ________.

A) genetic mechanisms
B) developmental mechanisms
C) physiological mechanisms
D) All of the above.

Question 17

The conclusion,"Mutation hypothesis notes that mutations causing premature senescence are selected against weakly," makes more sense if we consider that ________.

A) many mutations that cause cell death are, in fact, highly deleterious
B) individuals carrying a mutation causing death before reproductive maturity would have a lifetime reproductive success rate of zero
C) mutations causing death after reproduction has begun are selected against less strongly
D) mutations in individual cells may cause cell death, but this does not affect the rest of the organism

Question 18

Researchers have tested Lack's hypothesis on clutch sizes,and the results are shown in the accompanying figure.In this graph,the histogram shows actual clutch sizes over 22 years for the Great Tit (Parus major),whereas the individual data points reflect results of manipulation of clutch size.According to this data,________.

A) Lack's hypothesis is supported
B) there is an ideal clutch size in terms of survival; however, this species of bird is not producing as many offspring as could survive, therefore Lack's hypothesis is not supported
C) there is an ideal clutch size in terms of survival-which is more than the number of offspring that are being produced; however, the results still support Lack's hypothesis
D) there is no apparent ideal clutch size because of discrepancies in these data

Question 19

At the most fundamental of levels,differences among life histories are due to differences in the allocation of ________.

Question 20

Some researchers argue that short telomeres actually facilitate a longer life span in mammals.The reasoning for this argument includes the idea that ________.

A) the activity of telomerase expression―the enzyme that can restore lost bits of telomeres―is repressed
B) a reduction in the telomere size for every DNA replication event can serve as an accurate counting mechanism for the number of times a cell has divided
C) reducing the number of divisions a cell will go through will also reduce the likelihood of mutation events occurring in the cell's DNA
D) All of the above are included in this idea.

Question 21

Two theories have been proposed regarding the aging process: the rate-of-living theory and the evolutionary theory of aging.Compare and contrast these two theories.Are there any similarities? What are their differences? Which elements are supported by research,and which elements have been refuted?

Question 22

Life-history analysis may provide us with clues to human female menopause―more specifically,the way in which your text describes it,"Why should women's reproductive systems shut down by age 50,while the rest of their organs and tissues are still in good repair?" Two hypotheses were discussed; describe,compare,and contrast them.Which one do you think is more likely,and why?

Question 23

The hypothesis that predicts that parents will attempt to rear the number of offspring that maximizes the survival rates of offspring is known as ________.[two words]

Question 24

Alleles that influence more than one trait are referred to as ________.

Question 25

Female sand crickets are known to develop either long- or short-winged forms.The short-winged forms devote more of their energy budget to ovary development,whereas the long-winged forms allocate more to flight.Explain how natural selection could have produced these two phenotypic variants,given that the essential measure of fitness is reproductive success.

Question 26

Studies by Elgar and Berrigan (shown in the accompanying figure show a ________ [positive/negative] correlation between the number of ________ and the size of ________.

Question 27

Lack's hypothesis was first proposed by David Lack in 1947.Describe and explain the essence of this hypothesis,along with the major assumptions that go along with it.Are the assumptions warranted? Do research data support Lack's hypothesis?

Question 28

When reproductive interests between males and females of the same species differ,as in the case of fruit flies,sexual selection may actually favor adaptations arising in one sex but that are detrimental in the other sex.This,in turn,leads to subsequent "counter-measure" adaptations in the sex that are subject to harm or detriment.This kind of antagonistic sexual adaptation has been termed ________ sexual selection.

Question 29

The maintenance of genetic variation in sea-squirts (Botryllus scholosseri)has been studied by Richard Grosberg.Interestingly,these sea-squirts have two genetically determined life history forms.In one,called ________ the modules in a colony reproduce once and then die.In the other morph,called ________ colonies reproduce sexually at least three times before they die.

Question 30

In reading the accompanying figure from left to right,the data reveal that as herbivorous mammals get ________,their litter sizes get ________.