Throughout this chapter, we have stressed this fundamental question: How can we test whether a given trait is adaptive or not? As a further exercise, think about the costs and benefits of being a certain body size. For example, a mouse can easily survive a 30-foot fall. A human falling 30 feet would probably be injured, and an elephant falling 30 feet would probably be killed. Finally, a recent study of the bone strength of Tyrannosaurus rex revealed that if a fast-running T. rex ever tripped, it would probably the (Farlow, Smith, and Robinson 1995). Given these costs, why has large body size ever evolved? Can you think of some costs of small body size? How would you test your ideas?
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