Since the 1930s, the idea that creatures might advertise their " fitness " as mates through symmetry has been around. It rests on the notion that factors ranging from bad genes to coming off worse in too many fights will lead to asymmetries others can see. And over the past few years, experiments with animals and humans seemed to support the idea that symmetry in features such as plumage and facial characteristics influences mate selection.
But no one had actually checked that the animals in these experiments can actually see the subtle differences in symmetry, typically of between 1 and 2 percent. Now the first such experiment has been carried out. The results are worrying for advocates of symmetry detection as a powerful factor in mate selection.
John Swaddle, an ethnologist at the University of Bristol, performed the experiment using wild starlings, which have excellent eyesight. He trained them to hit keys marked with bar patterns with varying levels
A. need symmetry detection
B. need complex three-dimensional images
C. begin to realize their dependence on symmetry
D. cannot be proved whether to rely on asymmetry
Since the 1930s, the idea that creatures might advertise their " fitness " as mates through symmetry has been around. It rests on the notion that factors ranging from bad genes to coming off worse in too many fights will lead to asymmetries others can see. And over the past few years, experiments with animals and humans seemed to support the idea that symmetry in features such as plumage and facial characteristics influences mate selection.
But no one had actually checked that the animals in these experiments can actually see the subtle differences in symmetry, typically of between 1 and 2 percent. Now the first such experiment has been carried out. The results are worrying for advocates of symmetry detection as a powerful factor in mate selection.
John Swaddle, an ethnologist at the University of Bristol, performed the experiment using wild starlings, which have excellent eyesight. He trained them to hit keys marked with bar patterns with varying levels
A. fitness
B. asymmetry
C. facial characteristics
D. features showing their fitness
Since life began eons ago, thousands of creatures have come and gone. Some, such as the dinosaurs, became extinct due to naturally changing ecologic conditions. More recent threats to life forms are humans and their activities. Man has drained marshes, burned prairies, dammed and diverted rivers. Some of the more recent casualties of man’’s expansion have been the dodo, great auk, passenger pigeon, Irish elk, and Steller’’s sea cow. Sadly, we can no longer attribute the increasing decline in our wild animals and plant species to "natural" processes. Many species are dying out because of exploitation, habitat alteration or destruction, pollution, or the introduction of new species of plants and animals to an area. As mandated by Congress, protecting endangered species, and restoring them to the point where their existence is no longer jeopardized, is the primary objective of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’’s Endangered Species Prog
A. Naturally changing ecological conditions.
B. Animals that have become extinct.
C. Achievements of the government Endangered Species Program.
D. Programs that have destroyed natural habitats.
我来回答: