Over Evolutionary Time, Many Cave-Dwelling Organisms Have Lost Their Eyes

question 52

Multiple Choice

Over evolutionary time, many cave-dwelling organisms have lost their eyes. Tapeworms have lost their digestive systems. Whales have lost their hind limbs. How can natural selection account for these losses?

• A) Natural selection cannot account for losses, only for innovations.
• B) Natural selection accounts for these losses by the principle of use and disuse.
• C) Under particular circumstances that persisted for long periods, each of these structures presented greater costs than benefits.
• D) The ancestors of these organisms experienced harmful mutations that forced them to find new habitats that these species had not previously used.

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