AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -A proximate cause is an event which is closest to, or immediately responsible for causing, some observed result. This exists in contrast to a higher-level ultimate cause (or distal cause) which is usually thought of as the “real” reason something occurred.

Detailed explanation-2: -Proximate cause, or legal cause, is an underlying cause of an accident. For example, if a truck driver swerves and hits a car, the driver is the actual cause of the accident. But if they moved to avoid a bicyclist riding on the road, the bicyclist’s unsafe driving might be the proximate cause.

Detailed explanation-3: -A proximate cause is an immediate, mechanical influence on a trait: say, the influence of day length on the concentration of a hormone in a bird’s brain. Ultimate causes are historical explanations; these explain why an organism has one trait rather than another, often in terms of natural selection.

Detailed explanation-4: -Proximate causation refers to a cause that is legally sufficient to find the defendant liable. For example, giving birth to a defendant will not be legally sufficient to find the mother liable because the birth was not the proximate cause of the tort.

Detailed explanation-5: -the most direct or immediate cause of an event. In a causal chain, it is the one that directly produces the effect. For example, the proximate cause of Smith’s aggression may be an insult, but the remote cause may be Smith’s early childhood experiences.