Deck 18: Coevolution

Question 1

How did François Lutzoni and Marc Pagel conclude that the entire genome of mutualistic fungi evolved faster than the genome of free-living fungi?

A) They based their estimate on the branch lengths in the phylogeny of a single gene.
B) They compared the evolutionary rates of multiple genes.
C) They conducted a genome scan at a great number of variable loci using microarray technology.
D) Their "conclusion" is mere speculation and is not backed by data.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is a relationship between organisms that CANNOT evolve into a mutualistic relationship?

A) parasite-host interaction
B) predator-prey interaction
C) neutral interaction
D) Any of these interactions can serve as a precursor to mutualism.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Geographically isolated subpopulations of a species can evolve partial reproductive isolation. If two subpopulations come into secondary contact, they can either become one mixed population, or, during a process called reinforcement, selection may lead to greater reproductive isolation. The latter will occur if mating between subpopulations results in hybrid offspring that have lower fitness. Could cultural evolution play a role in reinforcement?

A) Yes, if traits that affect reproductive isolation can be culturally transmitted.
B) Yes, but only if there is zero cultural transmission between subpopulations.
C) No; in order to form separate species, the changes have to be genetic.
D) No; culturally transmitted behavioral traits are bound to be "leaky" (allow for some level of gene flow).

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Dale Clayton and colleagues discovered the relationship between feather-louse size and the body mass of their corresponding bird hosts illustrated in the figure below. What do the authors hypothesize about the mechanism of cospeciation in doves and lice from this relationship?

A) Lice are unlikely to switch to hosts that differ in body size from their original host.
B) Lice will tend to shift to the larger host regardless of their own size.
C) Larger lice are always better at holding onto their hosts.
D) Smaller lice are always better than larger lice species at evading the preening attempts.

Question 5

Dale Clayton et al. studied host parasite coevolution and cospeciation in ectoparasitic feather lice. What did they conclude about the match between body size of the host and body size of the parasite?

A) Body-size matching enabled the lice to remain attached to the feathers of the host.
B) Body-size matching enabled the lice to escape defensive preening behavior of the host species.
C) Body-size matching enabled the lice to feed more efficiently on their host.
D) Body-size matching enabled the lice to fend off other parasitic species on their host.

Question 6

Which of the following is an example of Batesian mimicry?

A) paper wasps and yellow jackets that both have black and yellow stripes
B) defenseless spiders that look like ants
C) crab spiders that mimic the color of flowers on which they live
D) Heliconius butterfly species that share warning patterns and that are both unpalatable

Question 7

What is the role of the bacteria found in the whitish-gray crust on the ants who tend fungal gardens?

A) The bacteria infect the ants, preventing overpopulation by the ants, which would deplete their fungal food source.
B) The bacteria infect and kill other insects who try to exploit the ants' fungal garden.
C) The bacteria prevent parasite infection of the ants.
D) The bacteria provide antibiotics that target diseases dangerous to the fungal garden.

Question 8

Why do we distinguish between inter- and intraspecific mutualism?

A) This distinction is for historical reasons only.
B) Mutualistic partners in the same species are part of the same gene pool, but this is not the case for intraspecific mutualisms.
C) The mutualistic partners do not benefit equally in interspecific mutualism.
D) Only intraspecific mutualism gives the opportunity for cheating.

Question 9

Which definition best describes diffuse coevolution?

A) a coevolutionary relationship that involves multiple species resulting in difficulty in establishing the effect of each species on the other species
B) a coevolutionary relationship that involves two species
C) a coevolutionary relationship in which evolutionary changes in each species decrease the fitness of the other species
D) a coevolutionary relationship where evolutionary changes in each species benefit the other species

Question 10

Suppose that Epicephala moths are part of a larger group of moths whose members are all seed feeders, but none of the other seed-feeding genera are involved in the pollination of their host plant. What would you conclude to be the most parsimonious pathway for the evolution of the mutualistic relationship between Epicephala and Glochidion plants?

A) It evolved via a pollination mutualism without a seed-feeding relationship.
B) Epicephala started out eating Glochidion foliage before starting to pollinate the flowers of its host.
C) Pollination evolved as a by-product of female moths laying their eggs in Glochidion flowers.
D) The ancestor of mutualistic Epicephala larvae had pollen-feeding larvae.

Question 11

Is every form of adaptation coevolution?

A) Yes; evolution always happens in response to environmental change.
B) Yes; other species are always part of an organism's environment.
C) No; only evolution as an action-reaction response to a selection pressure imposed by interacting organisms on each other qualifies as coevolution.
D) No; coevolution is by definition limited to only mutualistic interactions.

Question 12

Assume that the transmission of antibiotic-producing bacteria that live as mutualists with leaf cutter ants is strictly vertical (i.e., bacteria are only transmitted from queens to their offspring). What would you expect the topology of a phylogeny for the bacteria to look like relative to the phylogeny of their ant partners?

A) The topologies should not correspond more than would be expected under a random model.
B) The topologies should closely correspond to one another.
C) The topologies should correspond less than would be expected under a random model.
D) Deep nodes will correspond, but not nodes that are located toward the tips of the tree.

Question 13

Which of the following differs between intra- and interspecific interactions when it comes to the evolution and maintenance of cooperation?

A) Interacting partners from different species are not linked by inclusive fitness.
B) We cannot apply game theory to interspecific systems.
C) Cooperative interactions cannot shift into antagonistic interactions in intraspecific systems.
D) Intraspecific relationships always begin as a strong mutualistic association.

Question 14

What ecological role were the nitrogen-fixing Bradyrhizobium japonicum bacteria in soybean root nodules effectively playing when the experimenters cut off gaseous nitrogen?

A) cheater
B) predator
C) commensal
D) symbiont

Question 15

When researchers examined the effects of withholding nitrogen from Bradyrhizobium japonicum, they used a "split root" treatment in which half of a soybean plant's root mass received gaseous nitrogen, whereas the other half did not. Why did the researchers use this split-root treatment?

A) They were economizing on experimental soybean plants.
B) They were testing whether different parts of the root react differently to the absence of nitrogen.
C) They were testing the range of nitrogen in which soybean plants can thrive.
D) They were testing whether the potential "retaliation" against cheating symbionts was specific to root nodules that did not fix nitrogen.

Question 16

Which of the following is a difference between genetic and cultural transmission?

A) Only cultural transmission involves the transfer of information.
B) Only genetic transmission is prone to errors (mutations).
C) Only cultural transmission works both vertically and horizontally.
D) Cultural transmission involves the transmission of information through social learning, while genetic transmission is transmission of information through inheritance.

Question 17

Why do woodland star flowers likely abort flower heads with Greya moth eggs in geographic locations where other non-flower-feeding pollinators are present?

A) Greya moths do not pollinate woodland stars in locations with multiple pollinators.
B) The costs of having the moth pollinator outweighed the benefits; therefore, selection favored an antagonistic response from the plant.
C) The costs of having nonmoth pollinators outweighed the benefits; therefore, selection favored an antagonistic response from the plant.
D) The costs of having the moth pollinator outweighed the benefits; therefore, selection favored a mutualistic response from the plant.

Question 18

Is there an alternative (genetic) explanation to cultural evolution for the correlation in songs of Darwin finches and their sons and grandsons? (The units on the x- and y-axes summarize multiple components of the finches' songs.) A


B


C

A) mitochondrial inheritance
B) X-linked inheritance
C) Y-linked inheritance
D) insufficient data

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of an intraspecific interaction?

A) bacterial flora in the human intestinal system
B) ants defending an acacia tree against other herbivores
C) older bird siblings providing care for younger nestmates
D) a reef clownfish living in a sea anemone

Question 20

The theory of mosaic coevolution focuses on

A) examining coevolutionary outcomes between different taxa within a single community.
B) diversity as a result of geographic variation in coevolutionary outcomes among multiple taxa.
C) coevolutionary outcomes of a single species over the metapopulation (population of multiple subpopulations) the species occupies within its range.
D) the coevolutionary outcome of a species pair throughout its geographic distribution.

Question 21

Naomi Pierce et al. demonstrated that Jalmenus butterfly larvae benefit from their Iridomyrmex ant partners in a coevolutionary mutualism. Because it is a costly mutualistic relationship for both species, Pierce et al. hypothesized that communication between the species would be favored by natural selection. What were the results of their tests for communication? A


B

A) Stridulating by the butterfly larvae repelled significantly more ants, making it less likely for the larvae to survive.
B) Stridulating by the ants attracted significantly more butterfly larvae, making it less likely for the larvae to survive.
C) Stridulating by the butterfly larvae attracted significantly more ants to the larvae, making it more likely for the larvae to survive.
D) Stridulating by the ants repelled significantly more butterfly larvae, making it more likely for the larvae to survive.

Question 22

Name two forms of antagonistic coevolution.

Question 23

The apple host race (or biotype) of the Rhagoletis pomonella fruit flies evolved after apples were colonized by individuals of R. pomonella's hawthorn race (hawthorn is the original host of R. pomonella). If the two R. pomonella races become two different species over time, would this represent an example for cospeciation? Briefly justify your answer.

Question 24

Which species has a negative effect on the actinomycete bacteria in the mutualistic web of ant fungal gardens?

A) Streptomyces
B) Escovopsis
C) Acromyrmex
D) black yeast

Question 25

Provide one likely cost and one likely benefit for each of the mutualistic partners in the Iridomyrmex ant and imperial blue butterfly caterpillar relationship.
A. Benefit for ants:
B. Cost for ants:
C. Benefit for caterpillars:
D. Cost for caterpillar:

Question 26

New York City rats are famous for their scavenging ability, particularly when selecting which pizzeria dumpster yields the best garbage. In an attempt to quantify the selective pizza scavenging choices of rats in Manhattan, scientists discovered that when rats revisited their dumpster of choice, 86% of rats returned with other rats from the same age group within their colony. This behavior was repeated at multiple sites throughout the borough, suggesting that rats were transmitting information about forage sites. What type of cultural transmission would this be?

A) vertical
B) oblique
C) parallel
D) horizontal

Question 27

The cultural transmission of bird song from father to son in Darwin's finches is an example of ________ transmission.

A) speciation
B) vertical
C) horizontal
D) oblique

Question 28

A scientist studying the migratory patterns of Pacific salmon species wanted to determine if juvenile salmon who were translocated to a different watershed would be able to learn their new migratory route from the resident fish who were unrelated to the translocated fish. This scientist was studying ________ cultural transmission.

A) speciation
B) vertical
C) horizontal
D) oblique

Question 29

A plant metapopulation exists throughout the floodplain of a small river. Throughout this range it is pollinated by native beetle species, but the primary pollinator changes from a single species in the northern part of the range to a mix of species in the midrange and a different, single beetle pollinator in the southern part of the range. The southern beetle pollinator feeds on the flower corolla while laying its eggs; other beetle pollinators do not. In the midrange, flowers that are damaged by beetle herbivory are excised from the plant in favor of flowers that are pollinated by nonherbivorous beetles, but this does not occur in the southern part of the range. This is an example of ________ coevolution.

A) diffuse
B) antagonist
C) mosaic
D) mutualistic

Question 30

Based on the data provided, what type of coevolutionary relationship exists between Jalemenus evagoras butterfly larvae and Iridomyrmex anceps ants? A Mt. Nebo field site


B Canberra field site

A) antagonistic
B) intraspecific cooperation
C) interspecific cooperation
D) mosaic

Question 31

Yellow-eyed salamanders have been cited as an example of Batesian mimicry; their orange body color and yellow eyes mimic the coloration of the toxic California newt. Although the salamanders are palatable, their mimicry of a nonpalatable species tends to prevent predators from attacking. In a follow-up study, Kuchta et al. observed the reaction of Western scrub jays (predators with toxic newt experience) when presented with both a yellow-eyed salamander and a closely related species after being presented with a toxic newt. What was significant about this study?

A) This follow-up study was a controlled experiment to determine if the yellow-eyed salamander has a reciprocal influence on the toxic California newt.
B) This follow-up study was used to determine the reaction from a predator when presented with two nontoxic species of salamanders.
C) This follow-up study was a field study to determine the reaction of a new predator to both the California newt and the yellow-eyed salamander.
D) This follow-up study was a controlled experiment that measured how a species can influence the selective processes operating on another species.

Question 32

Which statement best describes the diversity of mutualisms?

A) Mutualisms typically occur between species of the same taxonomic kingdom and follow predictable pathways.
B) Mutualisms typically occur between a multicellular and unicellular organism, but can occur between species from different taxonomic families.
C) Mutualisms occur among species from all taxonomic kingdoms and are unpredictable in their origination and evolution.
D) Mutualisms occur between species within the same taxonomic kingdom and are predictable in their origination and evolution.

Question 33

In order to survive in the geothermally heated soils of Yellowstone National Park, Dichanthelium lanuginosum requires what mutualism(s)?

A) The virus CThTV (Curvularia thermal tolerance virus) must be present in the soil, allowing the fungus Curvularia protuberata to live in the soil. Dichanthelium requires this fungus to live in the thermally heated soil.
B) The virus CThTV must be present in the soil, which allows Dicanthelium to live in thermally heated soil. Once established, Dicanthelium needs Curvularia to fix nitrogen for growth.
C) The fungus Curvularia must be present in the soil in order for it to inoculate Dicanthelium with CThTV.
D) CThTV must be present in the soil for both Dicanthelium and Curvularia protuberata to live; Curvularia provides nitrogen for Dicanthelium.

Question 34

Which is the correct sequence of events in the gene-culture evolution of lactose tolerance in humans?

A) domestication of cattle, fermentation of milk products, mutation of LCT gene, rise in frequency of LCT mutation
B) domestication of cattle, mutation of LCT gene, fermentation of milk products, rise in frequency of LCT mutation
C) mutation of LCT gene, domestication of cattle, fermentation of milk products, rise in frequency of LCT mutation
D) mutation of LCT gene, rise in frequency of LCT mutation, fermentation of milk products, domestication of cattle

Question 35

How does the obligate mutualism between Glochidion trees and Epicephala moths affect cospeciation events between the two genera?

A) Because Glochidion and Epicephala are highly specialized as partners in their obligate mutualism, speciation in one species makes it more likely the other species will go extinct.
B) Each species cannot survive and successfully reproduce without the other, making it more likely for cospeciation to occur when one species experiences a speciation event.
C) Although molecular evidence indicates some relationship, there is not conclusive evidence for the role of the obligate mutualism in cospeciation events in the G-E system.
D) As speciation occurs, the obligate mutualism is significantly weakened and can result in a separate, unrelated speciation in the other species.

Question 36

Changes in the environment can alter the dynamics of natural selection in predator-prey relationships. As the planet continues to warm, climate change will have a significant effect on many of these relationships. In the case of the snowshoe hare, loss of winter snow cover could make the species more vulnerable to its predator, the lynx. The fur of snowshoe hares turns white in the winter months, providing camouflage in the snow. Which prediction would best fit a hypothesis of continued antagonistic coevolution between these two species in a year-round, snow-free environment?

A) Snowshoe hares will rapidly go extinct due to the lack of camouflage. This will result in a decline in the lynx population until they shift to a new primary prey.
B) If the allele for year-round brown fur exists within the snowshoe hare populations, those individuals will be more likely to survive and reproduce, as they are more likely to remain undetected. Lynx who are better at detecting brown snowshoe hares in a snow-free environment will be more likely to survive and reproduce, increasing the frequency of that genotype within the population.
C) Although lynx populations may initially increase due to easier prey, they will then decline with the loss of their primary prey. Lynx populations will be greatly reduced, while snowshoe hare populations are likely to go extinct.
D) Because neither species is well adapted to a warmer climate, they are both likely to be greatly reduced and may go extinct.

Question 37

Studies of rough-skinned newts have documented their ability to produce toxins in defense against a predator attack. The common garter snake, a predator of rough-skinned newts, exhibits a resistance to the toxin produced by the newt. In response, newts have been observed to produce increasingly potent toxins, which in turn results in selection for snakes with even greater resistance to the toxin. What phrase best describes this interaction between rough-skinned newts and garter snakes?

A) host-parasite coevolution
B) obligate mutualism
C) evolutionary arms race
D) diffuse coevolution

Question 38

What did the results of Grant and Grant's 1996 study determine about cultural transmission of finch songs across generations? A


B


C

A) Their results showed that bird song was culturally transmitted from fathers to sons and that females were far more likely to mate with males who sang the song typical of their own species.
B) Their results showed that bird song was culturally transmitted from mothers to sons and that females were far more likely to mate with males who sang the song typical of their own species.
C) Their results were not conclusive in trying to determine if bird song was culturally transmitted.
D) The results showed that some species culturally transmitted bird song from father to son, while others did not.

Question 39

List three examples of interspecific mutualism.

Question 40

Define "obligate mutualism."

Question 41

How does the relationship between bird host size and louse parasite affect the cospeciation dynamic between the two species?

Question 42

Contrast how fitness is affected by a mutualistic interaction versus an antagonistic interaction.

Question 43

Briefly define the three modes of cultural transmission: vertical cultural transmission, horizontal cultural transmission, and oblique cultural transmission.

Question 44

Explain how lactose tolerance in humans is an example of gene-culture evolution.

Question 45

How can cultural transmission of male songs facilitate the early stages of new species formation in Darwin's finches?

Question 46

Define "cultural transmission" in one sentence.

Question 47

Why does cultural transmission have the potential to be faster than genetic transmission? Limit your answer to one sentence.

Question 48

Describe the mosaic theory of coevolution in your own words. Limit your answer to one sentence.

Question 49

Describe the mutualistic interactions of the system established by ants and the fungal gardens they tend.

Question 50

Explain the dynamics of mimicry between Ensatina eschscholtzii xanthoptica and Taricha torosa.