Question

1.Explain why parental investment theory predicts the observed pattern that children of young mothers are much more likely to die than children of older mothers.

2. If each egg costs the same amount of energy to produce, and the bottom egg of stack is 100% protected from parasitoids, how high must the risk of parasitism be for single eggs in order for it to be adaptive for females to single stack all their eggs (lay one on top of the other).

--> _____ % of single eggs must be parasitized and killed.

Answer 1

1 . Parental investment theory, a term coined by Robert Trivers in 1972. Alexander Graham Bell suggested that children born to young mothers have the longest lifespan and children born to older mothers have the shortest . Advanced maternal age may also be positively linked with offspring health. Birth weight may increase with maternal age . The detrimental effect of higher germ cell damage of older parents may be offset by the increased longevity of those able to bear children later in life. Finally, older parents may have access to greater resources and higher socioeconomic status, which are linked to improved offspring health.

2.