Studies of female platyfishes, whose male counterparts have a variety of tail shapes, show that the females prefer male fish with artificial swordlike structures attached to their tails.This observation is most consistent with the
A) notion of a molecular clock.
B) maximum likelihood principle.
C) sensory exploitation hypothesis.
D) principle of homoplasy.
E) parsimony principle.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The sensory exploitation hypothesis posits that males can evolve traits that exploit pre-existing sensory biases of females. In this case, the females have a pre-existing preference for sword-like shapes (which may be associated with natural selection for faster swimming), and males with artificial sword-like structures take advantage of this bias to increase their likelihood of successful reproduction.

Studies of Female Platyfishes, Whose Male Counterparts Have a Variety