Question

1. the following example illustrates a more complete definition of fitness as the ability to survive and produce offspring who can also survive and reproduce. according to this definition of him fitness, which of the four male lions described below would biologists consider the \fittest\?name george dwayne spot tyroneage at death 13 years 16 years 12 years 10 years# cubs fathered 19 25 22 22# cubs surviving to adulthood 15 14 14 19size 10 feet 8.5 feet 9 feet 9 feet(adapted from michigan state university, occasional paper no. 91, evolution by natural selection: a teaching module by beth bishop and charles anderson, 1986)7. explain why dwayne was not the fittest even though he lived the longest and fathered the most cubs.

Explanation:

For Question 6:

Biological fitness is defined by an organism's ability to pass on its genes by producing offspring that survive to adulthood and reproduce. We compare the number of cubs each lion had reach adulthood, as this is the key metric for this fitness definition.

• George: 15 cubs to adulthood
• Dwayne: 14 cubs to adulthood
• Spot: 14 cubs to adulthood
• Tyrone: 19 cubs to adulthood

Tyrone has the highest number of cubs that survived to adulthood, meaning he passed on his genes most successfully.

For Question 7:

Fitness is not about lifespan or total number of offspring, but about the number of offspring that survive to reproductive age. Dwayne lived the longest and fathered the most total cubs, but only 14 of his cubs reached adulthood. This is fewer than Tyrone's 19 and George's 15, so he did not pass on his genes as effectively as the fittest lion.

Answer:

1. Tyrone
2. Biological fitness depends on the number of offspring that survive to adulthood (and can reproduce), not just lifespan or total offspring. Dwayne only had 14 cubs reach adulthood, which is less than Tyrone's 19 and George's 15, so he is not the fittest.