Question

there are little birds that spend a great deal of time on the back of a rhinoceros and eat the blood-sucking ticks out of the rhinos ears. the rhino greatly benefits from the relationship, since it cannot remove the ticks itself. the tick-rhino relationship is an example of ______.

○ predator-prey
○ commensalism
○ parasitism
○ mutualism

Explanation:

• Predator - prey: In a predator - prey relationship, one organism (predator) kills and eats another (prey). Here, the tick is not being killed for food in the traditional predator - prey sense. The bird is removing the tick, but the rhino is not preying on the tick.
• Commensalism: In commensalism, one organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed. But the rhino is clearly benefited by the removal of ticks.
• Parasitism: In parasitism, one organism (parasite) benefits at the expense of the other (host). Here, the tick is a parasite on the rhino (as it feeds on the rhino's blood), but the relationship between the bird and the rhino is not parasitic.
• Mutualism: In mutualism, both organisms benefit. The bird gets food (ticks) and the rhino gets rid of blood - sucking ticks.

Answer:

mutualism