8. SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Bats emit ultrasonic sounds and then use the returning ech

Question

8. SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY Bats emit ultrasonic sounds and then use the returning echoes of those sounds to locate and capture flying insects, such as moths, in the dark. In response to bat attacks, some tiger moths make ultrasonic clicks of their own. Researchers hypothesize that tiger moth clicks likely either (1) jam the bat's sonar or (2) warn the bat about the moth's toxic chemical defenses. The graph below shows two patterns observed in studies of moth capture rates over time. 100 Tiger moth species A C50 Tiger moth species B 0 4 Time (nights) Bats in these experiments were "naive," meaning that prior to the study the bats had not previously hunted tiger moths. Indicate whether the results support hypothesis (1), hypothesis (2), or both. Explain why the researchers used naive bats in this study.

Explanation / Answer

Ans:

Firstly, the experiment was designed in such a way that the results can give an indication whether hypothesis 1: that moth clicks jam the bat sonar or hypothesis 2: it warns the bat of its toxic chemical is correct.

Naive bats were used as experienced bats would be able to detect and understand the moth clicks as a warning signal but naive bats won't be able to so they will ideally hunt first and eventually understand the clicks and avoid the moth, which will prove hypothesis 2. However if hypothesis 1 is true, the moth capture rate will be affected from the very beginning and hence the rate won't change over time.

Here the results show that the moth capture rate for Tiger moth species A was initially high, but with time the rate got lower. This supports hypothesis 2, as the bats were naive they were unable to correlate the moth clicks with its toxicity, but as they got experienced they eventually started to avoid the toxic moths after detecting its click. If hypothesis 1 was true the rate would have remained same throughout.
So, the results support hypothesis 2.

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