PrepTest 121, Section 4, Question 24
Many Seychelles warblers of breeding age forgo breeding,(70 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(11 more words not shown)
- AMany of the(15 more words not shown)
- BThe climate of(18 more words not shown)
- CMost of the(18 more words not shown)
- DCooperative breeding in(18 more words not shown)
- EThe Seychelles warblers(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
A bigger island isn't necessarily a better place to build a nest.
The original island has too little nesting territory, so many adult warblers stay with their parents and help raise siblings instead of breeding themselves. Moving to a larger island sounds as though it should relieve that shortage. Yet most of the relocated birds keep the same behavior.
Maybe they are used to living with their parents and won't change immediately. Or maybe the new land isn't suitable for their nests. Imagine birds that need trees being moved to a huge expanse of open grassland. There is more land on a map, but that doesn't give them more places to nest. That's a hypothetical, not a fact about these birds.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to explain the result. I'd look for a reason the move hasn't removed the obstacle to separate nesting, or a reason the old behavior could continue even after the obstacle was removed.
Working the answers
- A
Young birds might have a reason not to breed yet. But “many” relocated birds being too young doesn't establish that age explains the pattern maintained by most of the group. More importantly, the puzzling behavior described at the start concerns birds of breeding age continuing to help their parents. A doesn't explain why the move would leave that adult pattern intact.
- B
Matching climates doesn't explain why more land failed to change the behavior. It gives us no new reason nesting territory would remain scarce or the birds would keep helping their parents. Similar weather could make the move seem less disruptive, but it doesn't resolve the particular territory puzzle.
- CCorrect
Much of the bigger island is not suitable nesting terrain for these warblers. That means more total land need not mean enough additional usable nesting territory. The shortage that encouraged cooperative breeding can remain, so continuing the behavior is no longer surprising.
- D
This concerns other species, and it doesn't establish that the new island cannot support more Seychelles warblers. Even if cooperative breeding sometimes reflects a population limit elsewhere, we still need a reason it persisted in this experiment. D supplies neither the relevant condition on this island nor a link showing it governs these birds.
- E
Fewer competitors would seem to make finding nesting territory easier. That pushes toward the expectation that the birds could leave their parents and breed separately. It doesn't explain why they largely continued their old arrangement. Nor does fewer competitors mean no competitors; the answer simply doesn't supply the missing obstacle.
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