Mud Snails Reproduction and Adaptation Quiz

Recombination prevents deleterious mutations from hitchhiking by allowing them to follow beneficial mutations.

Most species have equal sex ratios because individuals of the rarer sex have higher fitness, leading populations to balance to a 1:1 sex ratio.

Hermaphrodites can self-fertilize, allowing them to reproduce without the need for a mate and potentially doubling their reproductive success.

Sequential hermaphroditism can be advantageous when changing sex in response to environmental or social factors increases an individual's reproductive success.

High female-biased sex ratios are rare because populations tend to balance sex ratios to 1:1 due to the higher fitness of individuals of the rarer sex.

Clonal interference slows adaptation in asexual populations because without recombination, two beneficial mutations cannot coexist on different alleles for a long time.

Sexual dimorphism is the difference between males and females in a species. It is defined by the primary sexual traits, such as gonads/genitalia.

Primary sexual traits are the gonads/genitalia of an individual. They are important because they are necessary for reproduction.

Secondary sexual traits are characteristics that are good for courtship but not necessary for reproduction. They are significant in sexual selection because they play a role in attracting mates.

Darwin's theory of sexual selection suggests that competition for mates within the same sex drives the evolution of traits. Males are usually selected for secondary sexual traits because they can increase their fitness by mating more.

Male-male competition involves combat between males using weapons such as horns to fight for control over mates. There is a direct correlation between male body size and reproductive success, with larger males often gaining more mates.

An example of sex role reversal is seen in species like sea horses or painted snipes, where males provide parental care. Females can increase their fitness by mating more males, leading to this reversal of typical roles.

They perceive it as food and approach it more, thinking it looks like food.

Good genes refer to the idea that males displaying certain traits, like strong immune systems and good foraging abilities, are preferred by females because offspring may inherit these beneficial genes for survival.

Simultaneous hermaphrodites have both male and female gonads at the same time, while sequential hermaphrodites can change sex during their lifetime.

Clownfish is an example of a species with sequential hermaphroditism. This trait is favored by natural selection because it ensures the survival of the group if the dominant female dies.

Self-fertilizing hermaphrodites are rare due to inbreeding depression, which results in low offspring fitness. This occurs because inbred individuals have homozygous deleterious alleles from recessive mutations.

Turtles exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination, where warm temperatures result in female turtles and cool temperatures lead to male turtles.