Testosterone is apparently a very costly hormone for males to produce and use. W

Question

Testosterone is apparently a very costly hormone for males to produce and use. Why then, has natural selection resulted in the males of some many species investing in the production and use of this hormone? Because natural selection cannot override the effects of shared ancestry; because male animal share a common ancestor that used testosterone adaptively, they continue to do so today. Because testosterone helps insure that males will be motivated to search for and to final all the receptive females of their species, increasing the odds that the females will all be able to produce some offspring. Because under a variety of circumstances, the hormone makes is possible for males to be either aggressive or sexually motivated in highly adaptive ways. Because males that are able to pay the price for producing and using testosterone are demonstrating that they are able to overcome this handicap, which means that they are generically worthy members of the breeding stock for their population.

Explanation / Answer

c. Because under a variety of circumstances, the hormone makes it possible for males to be either aggresive or sexually motivated in highly adaptive ways.

Testosterone is linked to aggression and territorial defense in a large number of vertebrates including birds. Also it plays a very important role in male sexual behaviour.

"A malaria biologist"

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse T
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.