Ok, there was a cartoon on my exam and it had a big cockroach to small cockroaches and he said "Trust me, most of you would die off before you mature."
The question told us to illustrate one concept in the picture. I wrote overproduction. Overproduction is a concept that says that organisms produce a lot and most of them die off before they mature for certain number of reasons, such as disease and parasites, etc. Would that be marked correct? Please help
2007-05-19 04:00:09 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Sounds ok. Lots of animal species produce large numbers of offspring with the hopes that just a few will be able to make it to adulthood.
2007-05-19 04:05:46 · answer #1 · answered by justin b 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea, you're right on. Most creatures that produce eggs and some that have live births use a mass quantity concept. With shear numbers the odds of a few surviving are great. Sea Turtle can lay a 100 eggs (not accurate) few only 1 -5 surviving to adulthood. That 1 to 5 % is enough to keep the species going.
2007-05-19 04:32:16 · answer #2 · answered by Anthony M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your answer is correct, but I in my opinion the term "overproduction" is inappropriate. Nature and evolution rarely creates unnecessary excesses, it is simply to inefficient. So in a sense, what seem "too many" for us is "enough" from an evolutionary point of view, since the survival rate of the creatures you've described seem low. I'll probably give you a B-. ^_^
2007-05-19 04:40:12 · answer #3 · answered by Bernonix™ 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds good.
Its rough out there in nature.
The same concept applys to sea turtles. A hundred eggs will be laid in the nest on the beach, maybe half will make it to the water after hatching, maybe one will make it to adulthood.
2007-05-19 04:33:31 · answer #4 · answered by Labsci 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋