Reproductive strategies and parental care MCQs

By: Prof. Dr. Fazal Rehman Shamil | Last updated: September 12, 2024

1. What is “reproductive strategy” in the context of animal behavior?
a) The approach animals use to find food
b) The methods and behaviors used by animals to reproduce and ensure the survival of their offspring
c) The techniques animals use to migrate
d) The way animals establish social hierarchies
Answer: b) The methods and behaviors used by animals to reproduce and ensure the survival of their offspring

2. What does “k-strategy” refer to in reproductive strategies?
a) Producing a large number of offspring with little parental investment
b) Producing a few offspring with high parental investment and care
c) Focusing on short-term reproductive success
d) Rapidly reproducing during environmental disturbances
Answer: b) Producing a few offspring with high parental investment and care

3. Which reproductive strategy is characterized by high fecundity and low parental investment?
a) K-strategy
b) R-strategy
c) Cooperative breeding
d) Semelparity
Answer: b) R-strategy

4. What is “parental care” in animals?
a) The act of seeking mates for reproduction
b) The behaviors and actions taken by parents to enhance the survival and development of their offspring
c) The competition between parents for access to resources
d) The process of migrating to breeding grounds
Answer: b) The behaviors and actions taken by parents to enhance the survival and development of their offspring

5. What does “altruistic behavior” in parental care refer to?
a) Parents sacrificing their own well-being for the benefit of their offspring
b) Parents competing with each other for access to resources
c) Offspring helping each other with foraging
d) Parents seeking mates to increase reproductive success
Answer: a) Parents sacrificing their own well-being for the benefit of their offspring

6. What is “brood parasitism”?
a) A strategy where an animal provides care for offspring that are not its own
b) A behavior where animals help each other raise young
c) A tactic where one species lays its eggs in the nests of another species, leaving the host to care for the young
d) A method of ensuring all offspring survive by increasing the number of offspring produced
Answer: c) A tactic where one species lays its eggs in the nests of another species, leaving the host to care for the young

7. In which of the following situations would “cooperative breeding” be most likely to occur?
a) In species with high reproductive rates and minimal parental care
b) In species where individuals work together to raise offspring, often with multiple helpers providing care
c) In species that lay large numbers of eggs with no parental involvement
d) In species that exhibit solitary reproductive behaviors
Answer: b) In species where individuals work together to raise offspring, often with multiple helpers providing care

8. What is “semelparity” in reproductive strategies?
a) Reproducing multiple times over a lifetime
b) Reproducing only once in a lifetime, with a large number of offspring produced in a single event
c) Reproducing continuously with small numbers of offspring
d) Reproducing with intermittent periods of reproductive activity
Answer: b) Reproducing only once in a lifetime, with a large number of offspring produced in a single event

9. What is “iteroparity”?
a) The strategy of reproducing only once in a lifetime
b) The strategy of reproducing multiple times throughout an individual’s life
c) The strategy of producing a large number of offspring at once
d) The strategy of relying on external environmental factors for reproduction
Answer: b) The strategy of reproducing multiple times throughout an individual’s life

10. What does “parental investment theory” propose?
a) The theory that animals invest in offspring based on the availability of resources
b) The theory that the amount of parental care is unrelated to reproductive success
c) The theory that parents allocate resources to offspring in a way that maximizes the survival of the most fit individuals
d) The theory that parental care is equally distributed among all offspring
Answer: c) The theory that parents allocate resources to offspring in a way that maximizes the survival of the most fit individuals

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