Chapter 14. 14·11–14·13 Ecology influences the evolution of aging in a population.

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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

Instructions

Check your understanding of concepts from 14·11–14·13 Ecology influences the evolution of aging in a population by answering the following questions.

1.

1. There are many causes of death due to aging in humans. This is because:

a person’s reproductive output is the same whether they carry a “die young” allele or not.

mutant alleles that cause adverse health effects later in life become more common in a population.

bodies naturally fall apart as they get older, regardless of what alleles a person carries.

the longer a person lives, the more likely that person is to die from accidents, as well as disease.

mutant alleles that cause adverse health effects early in life become more common in a population.

Correct. (See section 14·11 Things fall apart: what is aging and why does it occur?)

Incorrect. (See section 14·11 Things fall apart: what is aging and why does it occur?)

2.

2. Which of the following statements about the hazard factor of a population is incorrect?

It is a measure of organisms’ risk of death from external sources.

It is a measure of how quickly the individuals in a population age.

It is responsible for the rate of aging among the individuals in a population.

It is higher for a population of porcupines than for a population of guinea pigs.

It is relatively low when populations have few predators.

Correct. (See section 14·12 What determines the average longevity in different species?)

Incorrect. (See section 14·12 What determines the average longevity in different species?)

3.

3. Natural selection:

cannot weed out from a population any alleles that do not reduce an individual’s relative reproductive success, even if these alleles increase an individual’s risk of dying.

does not influence aging because aging is determined by an individual’s environment.

leads to an increase in the frequency of any illness-inducing alleles that have their effect when an organism can reproduce.

can influence aging but not longevity.

cannot reduce the frequency of alleles that cause mortality among individuals who have not yet reached the age of maturity.

Correct. (See section 14·11 Things fall apart: what is aging and why does it occur?)

Incorrect. (See section 14·11 Things fall apart: what is aging and why does it occur?)

4.

4. Life extension:

can be achieved in species by selectively breeding individuals with the earliest age of maturity.

has been achieved using laboratory selection for delayed reproduction.

works in fruit flies but could not work in humans.

is our best hope for solving the environmental crisis.

is not possible, because natural selection cannot weed out disease-causing alleles that have an effect only after the age when reproduction is no longer possible.

Correct. (See section 14·13 Can we slow down the process of aging?)

Incorrect. (See section 14·13 Can we slow down the process of aging?)

5.

5. Which of the following was discovered as a result of the fruit fly life-extension experiment?

Longer-lived flies aged more quickly when removed from “ideal” living conditions.

Longer-lived flies laid their eggs earlier than shorter-lived flies.

Longer-lived flies died more quickly when removed from “ideal” living conditions.

Longer-lived flies accumulated a greater number of mutations in their genomes.

None of the above is correct.

Correct. (See section 14·13 Can we slow down the process of aging?)

Incorrect. (See section 14·13 Can we slow down the process of aging?)

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