PrepTest 157, Section 4, Question 18
Political arguments about biodiversity and the preservation of(443 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(12 more words not shown)
- AThere is strong(33 more words not shown)
- BBird populations X(27 more words not shown)
- CBird populations X(27 more words not shown)
- DAlthough bird populations(24 more words not shown)
- EAlthough bird populations(35 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Apply the biological concept, not the phylogenetic one. The relevant distinction is substantial interbreeding in the wild versus reproductive isolation. Different-looking populations can belong together under that test, while resemblance or shared ancestry alone won't establish that they do.
What we’re looking for
We want the answer whose classification follows that reproductive criterion.
Working the answers
- A
Common ancestry doesn't tell us whether the populations are reproductively isolated now. This supplies the wrong kind of evidence for the biological test.
- B
This gives interbreeding in the wild, then separates the populations because they haven't been known to breed in captivity. The stated definition looks to the wild; failure to breed in captivity doesn't justify reversing that evidence.
- C
Similar appearance and habitat don't establish interbreeding. Two populations can look alike without this answer giving the reproductive evidence the definition requires.
- DCorrect
The populations interbreed despite differences in beaks and head feathers. This illustrates why the biological approach can group visibly different populations into the same species: the reproductive relationship, not appearance alone, controls the classification.
- E
Appearance and DNA evidence of a common ancestor are offered in place of interbreeding. Those facts don't establish the reproductive connection required by the biological concept. The conclusion that the populations belong to one species therefore doesn't follow from the evidence given.
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