aamc5 evolution question

[misseskwee]

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So there was a passage question that asked:

Arthropods, as a taxonomic unit, are considered successful because:

I. there are numerous species.
II. many individuals have relatively long life spans.
III. there are aquatic, terrestrial, and flying species.

A) I only
B) II only
C) I and III only
D) I, II, and III



So I picked D.. But the correct answer was C and the explanation was:
The passage defines evolutionary success as species longevity, diversity and variety of ecological niches occupied. Length of life of individual organisms (option II) is not included in the definition. Diversity implies numerous species (option I) and the fact that there are aquatic, terrestrial and flying species (option III) speaks to a variety of ecological niches. The correct answer, therefore, choice C, the only choice that contains options I and III and not option II.


But I thought longevity did mean a longer life span? I'm confused..😕

 

[Melomare17]

i think the thing here to realize is that its talking about species longevity, and not individual longevity. its not saying an organism has a long life span. it is saying the species as a whole continues to exist and reproduce, having future offspring that have offspring later on, that is longevity it means

 

[misseskwee]

Hmm...i kinda saw that as i reviewed.. but i thought individual longevity still lead to species longevity, so it shouldn't make a difference. *shrug Jeez just one word throws me off!

 

[HollowSuperet36]

Yeah I tripped on this one too. The passage specified species longevity in the first paragraph and the question hints toward individual life longevity. They don't call them June bugs because they
Live one hundred years. But there are surely tens of thousands of them reproduced every year.

The passage talked about how insects have adapted over to time to survive. And that was their success.

Anyone remember the two types of offspring styles for species propagation. I remember hearing it on audio osmosis r and k I think.

This is an example of one of them. The other was a bear who only has one offspring and raises them to adulthood. Instead of this, insects have thousands to ensure existence.

 

[HollowSuperet36]

Yeah I just looked up in Kaplan to make sure. So FYI guys

 

[neurodoc]

As individuals, arthropods don't have long life spans (compared to vertebrates and mulloscs, for example). There are many species and they are successful in terrestrial, acquatic, and aerial lifestyles...so the corret answer is therefore "C."🙂

 

[MedPR]

Hmm...i kinda saw that as i reviewed.. but i thought individual longevity still lead to species longevity, so it shouldn't make a difference. *shrug Jeez just one word throws me off!

One word is all it takes on VR. I got this one wrong because I didn't like choice III. I saw that the passage mentioned multiple niches, but it didn't specifically say aquatic, terrestrial, and flying and I felt like that was too great of a leap from the given passage info.

 

[misseskwee]

One word is all it takes on VR. I got this one wrong because I didn't like choice III. I saw that the passage mentioned multiple niches, but it didn't specifically say aquatic, terrestrial, and flying and I felt like that was too great of a leap from the given passage info.

So i guess one word can be the difference between an acceptance or rejection. lol

Gaaaahhhh gotta start reading EVERY SINGLE WORD.