|Question 9Verbal

Source Texts

Text
Text 1
For decades, ornithologists assumed that if they saw a singing white-eyed vireo-а bird species found in temperate North America-they must be observing a male. That's because birdsong has long been considered a male trait; researchers have argued that singing enables males to attract mates and claim territory.

Text 2
Recent evidence shows that a female white-eyed vireo is as capable of song as a male is. In fact, Karan J. Odom and colleagues found evidence of female song in 71% of the 323 species they examined. They claim that the historical mischaracterization of birdsong as a male trait is largely the result of bias: much of the research ornithologists have carried out has been near universities in the temperate northern hemisphere, where female birdsong is less common than it is in the tropics.
Based on the texts, how would Odom and colleagues (Text 2) most likely respond to the view of birdsong presented in Text 1?
They would claim that other factors than mate attraction and territorial defense have driven the evolution of singing in male birds.
A
They would underscore that male songbirds in temperate zones are likely using their songs for different purposes than are male songbirds in the tropics.
B
They would argue that it was influenced by the kinds of study sites researchers tended to select.
C
They would suggest that it reflects a tendency to study male birds rather than female birds.
D