Download Questions for Lab 3

Questions for Lab 11
I highly recommend you read Chapter 18 before attempting to answer these
questions. Here is a definition that might be helpful to you in reading both papers—
phylogenetic inertia: the retention of a shared character or characters from a
common ancestor, even when the character(s) are no longer adaptive or serve their
original function(s).
Fig-Wasp Coevolution: NOTE: The captions for Figs. I & II are switched relative to
their respective illustrations/photographs: pay attention to the captions and you shouldn’t
be confused. If you don’t recall the difference between monoecious and dioecious plants,
consult your intro biology textbook or Wikipedia.
1. Explain what the authors mean by the “famous one-to-one rule of specificity” and why
it does not always apply to fig/fig wasp coevolution.
2. Can you think of any reasons to explain why it is often more common to find two
pollinator species per fig species than vice versa?
3. Explain how phylogenies can identify whether pollinator species underwent speciation
on the same species of host plant, or if there was host switching.
4. How does the fig/pollinator dynamic change when a species is monoecious vs.
dioecious?
Cuckoo Bird Coevolution:
1. Compare and contrast the sexual selection hypothesis vs. coevolution hypothesis to
explain the evolution of sexual dimorphism in cuckoo birds.
2. Why do the authors content that sexual dimorphism is more a consequence of
coevolution than sexual selection?
3. Why is it adaptive for brood-parasitizing females to evolve cryptic plumage
coloration? How does the Clamator lineage differ in their strategy for this?
4. In general, how can natural selection on females lead to sexual dimorphism?