Asked by Colin Hilgendorf on May 10, 2024

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What is the term for the change in the sensitivity of moths' hearing in response to a change in the frequencies used in echolocation by bats to find moths at night? 

A)  macroevolution 
B)  coevolution 
C)  genetic drift 
D)  convergent evolution

Echolocation

A biological sonar used by several kinds of animals to navigate and locate prey by emitting sounds and listening to their echoes.

Coevolution

The process by which two or more species influence each other's evolutionary development through natural selection.

Moths

Insects related to butterflies, belonging to the order Lepidoptera, typically flying at night and attracted to light.

  • Differentiate between misconceptions and established scientific principles in evolution.
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MS
Malia SorceMay 12, 2024
Final Answer :
B
Explanation :
The term for the change in the sensitivity of moths' hearing in response to a change in the frequencies used in echolocation by bats to find moths at night is coevolution. This is because moths and bats have evolved together in a mutually beneficial relationship where the bats have developed echolocation to locate their prey (moths), and moths have evolved to evade detection by hearing the ultrasonic echolocation calls of the bats and altering their flight patterns or by producing sounds that jam the bat's echolocation signals. This interaction between the two species is an example of coevolution. Macroevolution refers to large-scale evolutionary changes over a long period of time, while genetic drift refers to random fluctuations in the frequency of alleles in a population. Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar traits in unrelated organisms in response to similar selective pressures.