Over a Span of Several Thousand Years,a Number of Species

question 50

Multiple Choice

Over a span of several thousand years,a number of species show adaptations to climate change: drier,warmer conditions select for succulent vegetation and deep taproots in plants,burrowing in mammals and amphibians,and other similar adaptive changes.What will happen if the climate shifts in the opposite direction and becomes progressively wetter and cooler?

• A)Adaptation will cease because cool,wet conditions are generally favorable for life.
• B)Current adaptive trends will continue but organisms will now also have to add on adaptations to deal with cool,wet conditions.
• C)Different adaptive trends will probably be favored in the new climatic environment.
• D)Ongoing processes of adaptation will continue because of evolutionary inertia.

---

Definitions:

Variance

Variance is a measure of the dispersion of a set of data points from their mean, indicating how spread out the data points are.

Geometric Mean

A type of mean or average which indicates the central tendency of a set of numbers by using the product of their values.

Investment

The action of allocating resources, usually money, with the expectation of generating an income or profit.

Geometric Mean

A type of mean or average, which indicates the central tendency of a set of numbers by using the product of their values and is particularly useful for proportional growth rates.