AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is the only scientific explanation for why an animal’s behavior is usually well adapted for survival and reproduction in its environment.

Detailed explanation-2: -Ultimate causes refer to the past conditions having led to the information encoded in DNA. The phenomena involved in these different levels of causation occur on different time scales.

Detailed explanation-3: -animal behaviour …arises in animals) from its ultimate cause (that is, the evolutionary history and functional utility of the behaviour). Proximate causes include hereditary, developmental, structural, cognitive, psychological, and physiological aspects of behaviour.

Detailed explanation-4: -The proximate causes of social behaviour include the underlying genetic, developmental, physiological (that is, neural and endocrine), and morphological mechanisms.

Detailed explanation-5: -Example: Why did the ship sink? Proximate cause: Because it was holed beneath the waterline, water entered the hull and the ship became denser than the water which supported it, so it could not stay afloat. Ultimate cause: Because the ship hit a rock which tore open the hole in the ship’s hull.