Practice question · Sort into groups
Sort each trait as an adaptation, a by-product, or noise.
Groups: Adaptation · By-product · Noise
- The exact ridge pattern of one person's navel
- The redness of blood, a side effect of hemoglobin chemistry
- The heart, shaped by selection to pump blood
- Sweating, shaped by selection to cool the body
Hints
- Adaptations were selected FOR a function; by-products ride along on an adaptation; noise is random with no function.
- Blood's redness and the chin are side effects; the navel's exact pattern is random variation.
Show the answer
Adaptation: The heart, shaped by selection to pump blood, Sweating, shaped by selection to cool the body
By-product: The redness of blood, a side effect of hemoglobin chemistry
Noise: The exact ridge pattern of one person's navel
Why
The heart and sweating were selected for a function (adaptations); blood's redness and the chin ride along on other traits (by-products/spandrels); a navel's exact pattern is functionless random variation (noise). The three categories differ in whether selection acted for the trait.
Practise Evolutionary Psychology
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