You observe two female fish of the same species laying eggs. One female lays 100 eggs and the other female lays 1000 eggs. Which one of the following is LEAST likely given the limits of fitness trade-offs?
A) The female laying 100 eggs breeds more often than the female laying 1000 eggs.
B) The female laying 100 eggs lives longer than the female laying 1000 eggs.
C) The eggs from the female laying 1000 eggs have larger yolks than the yolks of the eggs from the female laying 100 eggs.
D) The female laying 1000 eggs is larger than the female laying 100 eggs.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The concept of fitness trade-offs suggests that resources allocated to one trait (such as the number of eggs) cannot be allocated to another (such as yolk size). Therefore, it is least likely that the female laying more eggs (1000) would also produce eggs with larger yolks than the female laying fewer eggs (100), as this would require a disproportionate allocation of resources.

You Observe Two Female Fish of the Same Species Laying