Question

peahens prefer to mate with peacocks that have the brightest and largest tail displays. the peacocks tail is a disadvantage to the males, because it is large and cumbersome and hinders them from escaping from predators. given these facts, why isnt the peacocks tail selected against by natural selection? peacocks lack the mutations to allow selection to work only a few peacocks have large tail displays in spite of the disadvantage, peacocks with larger tails leave more offspring it is selected against, but because a peahen gives birth to so many males, the population is not greatly affected peacocks do not reproduce sexually question 4 (2.5 points) with the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, multiple niches that the dinosaurs once filled opened up and allowed mammals the opportunity to evolve and exploit those niches. this is an example of ____

Explanation:

Natural selection favors traits that increase reproductive success. Peacocks with larger tails may have a survival disadvantage (e.g., harder to escape predators), but if they have more mating opportunities (because peahens prefer them) and thus leave more offspring, the trait (large tail) can persist. The key in natural selection is not just survival but passing on genes (reproductive success).

Answer:

in spite of the disadvantage, peacocks with larger tails leave more offspring