DISCUSSION: The author uses paragraph three to disprove the idea that Harris sparrows use status signaling.
If all adults are dark throated, then
dark-throatedness is mainly a sign of age,
not fighting ability.
Adults are better at fighting, but since all adults are dark throated, a dark throat can’t signal individual fighting ability.
All the wrong answers ignore this, and they imply or state that Harris sparrows do support the hypothesis. Lines 37-38 disprove these answers.
___________
- CORRECT. Plumage variation signals age, rather than fighting ability. All adults will have dark throats, so a dark throat doesn’t signal that an individual bird is particularly good at fighting.
- Lines 37-38 say that Harris sparrows don’t support the status signaling hypothesis.
- The author never says that the status signaling hypothesis should be changed. He just says that Harris sparrows don’t support the hypothesis. (lines 37-38)
- The Harris sparrows don’t support the hypothesis, so they may not be the best test subjects.
- The author doesn’t mention other birds, he only talks about Harris sparrows. And the author says that Harris sparrows aren’t an example of signaling (lines 37-38).
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