Question

text 1: for decades, ornithologists assumed that if they saw a singing house wren—a bird species found in temperate north america—they must be observing a male trying to attract a mate or claim territory. as peter j.b. slater and nigel i. mann have emphasized, however, a similar assumption cant be made about birds in the tropics, where females sing as often as males do. slater and mann call for more research on this discrepancy between tropical and temperate female birdsong. text 2: recent evidence shows that a female house wren is as capable of song as a male is. in fact, female birdsong is more common among temperate species than currently assumed, claim evangeline rose and colleagues. these female songbirds sing less frequently than males do, and in duller tones, making it “easy for researchers to miss the quiet and hidden females and focus on the loud and colorful males,” says rose. based on the texts, how would rose and colleagues (text 2) most likely respond to the assertion by slater and mann (text 1) about the different prevalence of female birdsong in temperate and tropical areas? a) they would raise the possibility that the difference in prevalence may be due to differences in the timing of the mating season among temperate and tropical species. b) they would concede that the geographic difference in prevalence is real but argue that the frequency with which male tropical birds sing has been overstated by previous researchers. c) they would argue that the apparent difference in prevalence may partly reflect a difference in the ease with which female birdsong and male birdsong can be detected. d) they would insist that female birdsong is entirely absent in temperate regions and that any reported female songs there are misidentifications.

Explanation:

Text 2 mentions that female birdsong is more common among temperate species than assumed as female songbirds sing less frequently and in duller tones, making them hard to detect. So Rose and colleagues would likely argue that the apparent difference in prevalence in Text 1 may be due to detection - ease differences.

Answer:

C. They would argue that the apparent difference in prevalence may partly reflect a difference in the ease with which female birdsong and male birdsong can be detected.