Video Transcript
Which statement about reproduction is not true? (A) Insects usually delay their reproduction and invest a lot of energy in producing
every single progeny. (B) Animals with long life spans usually reproduce more than once in their
lifetime. (C) Organisms with short life spans usually produce large numbers of offspring. (D) Mammals decrease the mortality of their offspring through parental care. Or (E) organisms with long life spans are usually larger in size than those with
short life spans.
To answer this question, we need to recall some information about the reproductive
strategies of organisms. A reproductive strategy refers to how an organism mates and expends energy in raising
offspring. There are two extremes of the reproductive strategy spectrum. At one end, we have species that produce a large number of smaller offspring. At the other end, we have species that produce larger offspring but fewer of
them.
Organisms that use these two types of reproductive strategies tend to display
different features. Those that produce a lot of small offspring tend to have shorter life spans and live
in harsher and more unstable environments where their offspring are less likely to
survive. For example, many insects have short life spans and produce many offspring. The high number of offspring means that even in a harsh, unstable environment with
lots of mortality, there is a higher likelihood that some of the offspring will
survive and reproduce themselves.
The parents also rarely provide care for their offspring, as there are simply too
many. Instead, the parents focus on surviving and being able to produce as many offspring
as possible, which again maximizes the probability that some will survive.
At the other end of the scale, we have larger animals that have longer life
spans. These organisms, such as mammals, produce larger offspring, which requires a greater
input of energy. As a result, the parents cannot produce as many offspring. To compensate for this, the parents tend to invest more energy in raising their
offspring, which reduces the mortality rate. These species may reproduce more than once during their lifetime but still produce
far fewer offspring than organisms that adopt the other type of reproductive
strategy.
Using this information, let’s look over the answer options for a statement that is
not true. The incorrect statement is (A). The statement that is not true is that insects usually delay their reproduction and
invest a lot of energy in producing every single progeny.
