Optimal foraging theory (OFT) holds that animals’ foraging behaviors reflect cost-benefit trade-offs that vary by species and with dynamic ecological circumstances. One such circumstance is lunar intensity, which Nathan Upham and John Hafner found to be negatively associated with foraging by desert kangaroo rats but Eduardo Fernández-Duque and colleagues found to be positively associated with foraging by Azara’s night monkeys. This discrepancy is explicable in terms of OFT: the monkeys’ greater reliance on vision means that higher lunar intensity benefits them more than it benefits the kangaroo rats.
Desmos Graphing Calculator
Verbal·Information and Ideas·Inferences
hardInformation in the text best supports which statement about Azara’s night monkeys?
A
If the monkeys’ foraging behavior under increased lunar intensity actually reflects a cost-benefit trade-off, their behavior should be more similar to that of desert kangaroo rats than it is.
B
If increased lunar intensity imposed the same costs on the monkeys that it imposes on desert kangaroo rats, there would be no association between lunar intensity and the monkeys’ foraging.
C
If the advantages that the monkeys gain from increased lunar intensity explain the change in their foraging behavior, those advantages are likely shared by some other species that are not heavily reliant on vision.
D
If increased lunar intensity creates any disadvantages for the monkeys, those disadvantages are more than compensated for by the advantages that the monkeys gain.