Question

Evolution

Name of article: Ecological Knowledge, Leadership, and the Evolution of Menopause in Killer Whales

- Summarize and explain what the article is about! (CAN SOMONE PLEASE HELP ON THIS!!!!)

- What are the authors views?

- What methods were used?

- Most interesting part of article?

- The article is provided below in the web link (copy and paste it will direct you to the article)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096098221500069X

Answer 1

Hi, I will start by summarizing the article along with authors views on it. I understand you know the basic idea of evolution and that everything that goes on in a population is only with respect to keeping in mind the best outcome for the next generation. By this I do not mean that there is nothing bad that goes on. But the overall goal is survival and reproduction to pass on the genetic message.

Keeping that goal of evolution, researchers wondered why female whales survive almost 30 years after menopause. Since they are not going to reproduce after menopause, does their presence in the group provide any advantage or are they just moving with the group till they die. The author's have tried to answer this question by providing at least 3 compelling results for the presence of these post reproductive females.

First, they say is that these females lead the way to salmon foraging grounds. This is especially true when the salmon is difficult to find. They have shown that during difficult times, when salmon are scarce, these elderly females are actually taking lead into finding these salmon foraging place which has shown to confer reproductive advantage and fitness benefit and leads to overall reproductive success thus helping evolution. Thirdly, they have also shown that sons follow these post reproductive females thus this ecological knowledge is passed to next generation.

The best part of the article is the part where they have shown the post reproductive females were more likely to guide the groups or lead the group during salmon foraging and especially during low salmon availability.