1.
What is life history analysis? What is a "Darwinian demon," and why do such organisms not exist in nature?
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2.
What is the fundamental difference in life histories among individual organisms? Illustrate your answer using the life history of the hypothetical female opossum described in the figure.
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3.
What is senescence? Compare and contrast the rate-of-living theory of aging with the evolutionary theory of aging, with special attention to the underlying processes each proposes for aging. Discuss the tests Austad and others have performed of the rate-of-living theory of aging. Did their findings support or falsify this hypothesis? Use the graphs to help you answer the question.
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4.
Describe the two mechanisms ultimately responsible for aging according to the evolutionary theory of aging. Using the graphical model presented in Figure 12.7 and reproduced here, explain the process by which a mutation that causes senescence might be favored by selection using the graphical model presented in Figure 12.7 and reproduced below; using the same model, explain why a mutation that causes death might be only weakly selected against.
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5.
Discuss the evidence that the accumulation of mutations can cause a decline in fitness in populations over time, and that specific genes may mediate a trade-off between early fecundity and late reproduction and/or survival. Describe the evidence from Gustafsson and Part's studies of flycatchers and Young's studies of plants that such trade-offs may be widespread in nature.
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6.
Discuss the "natural experiment" Austad used to test the evolutionary theory of senescence. What specific predictions did this model make for his study populations? How did he test those predictions, and what did he fine? Were his results consistent with the evolutionary theory of senescence? Use the graphs to answer the question. Was he able to distinguish between the two mechanisms that can potentially be responsible for this general process? Explain.
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7.
Compare and contrast the "artifact" and "grandmother" hypotheses for the evolution of human menopause, including any evidence for or against each.
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8.
Describe Lack's hypothesis for the evolution of clutch size. Be sure to identify the assumptions of the model and the fundamental trade-offs it posits. Discuss Boyce and Perrins' test of this hypothesis. Did their results confirm or falsify Lack's model? Were their results consistent with other studies, or were they anomalous? Describe how changes in the assumptions of Lack's hypothesis might bring the predictions of the model in line with the findings from field studies of clutch size. Be sure to clearly articulate why the original assumptions might be wrong in terms of trade-offs and/or constraints.
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9.
Describe how Charnov and Skinner modified Lack's hypothesis to model the oviposition behavior of female parasitoid wasps. How well did their model predict oviposition behavior? Explain the reasons they proposed for deviations from the predictions of the model.
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10.
Why should a trade-off between offspring size and offspring number be "fundamental"? Does evidence of such a tradeoff exist in nature? Describe Smith and Fretwell's analysis of optimal offspring size, being sure to identify the two assumptions they make. Does selection on parental fitness favor the same offspring size as does selection on offspring fitness? Explain. Discuss how Sinervo et al. tested Smith and Fretwell's assumptions in side-blotched lizards. Were the assumptions found to apply? Explain.
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11.
Discuss Fox et al.’s work on egg size in seed beetles. Explain why difference in host quality leads to a prediction of phenotypic plasticity in egg size, and describe how this prediction was tested. Did this study confirm Smith and Fretwell’s assumptions? Explain.
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12.
Describe the rationale for predicting a conflict between the reproductive interests of fathers and mothers in organisms with placental development. Explain how patterns of genomic imprinting are consistent with the hypothesis of such intersexual conflict using IGF-II to illustrate your answer. In what other groups of organisms might such a conflict be predicted to occur?
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13.
Using Rice et al.'s experiments in fruit flies, discuss how sexual selection may favor adaptations that arise in one sex but are detrimental to the other. Under what conditions might such an adaptation arise and be favored? Under what conditions might it be selected against?
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14.
Why might we predict that life history traits have lower heritability than other kinds of traits? Is this prediction supported by empirical evidence? If not, discuss the mechanisms that might be maintaining genetic variation in life history traits in populations. Be sure to support your discussion with empirical evidence as appropriate.
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15.
Using the evolution of "schmoo" larvae in sea urchins to support your discussion, explain how selection acting on life history traits may initiate the evolution of novel developmental and morphological features of organisms.
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16.
What basic assumption underlies most of the models of life history evolution discussed in this chapter. Under what conditions might "suboptimal" life histories evolve? Justify your answer using evidence from pink lady's slipper orchids and intertidal barnacles.
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