Final answer:
Slime molds maintain cooperative behavior through kin recognition and inclusive fitness, which help spread shared genes and promote genetic success, including aiding the reproduction of related individuals. Cellular slime molds provide insights into the evolution of multicellularity, and plasmodial slime molds demonstrate sophisticated problem-solving behavior.
Step-by-step explanation:
When it comes to slime molds and how they maintain cooperative behavior, the answer would be 5) b and c only, which refers to Kin recognition and Inclusive fitness. Despite the possibility of cheating as a successful behavior, slime molds can remain cooperative due to the genetic relatedness of the individuals within the group. Kin recognition allows slime molds to identify and preferentially cooperate with their genetic relatives, which helps to spread their shared genes. Additionally, Inclusive fitness explains that an organism's genetic success is derived not only from personal reproduction but also from aiding the reproduction of related individuals.
Cellular slime molds, like Dictyostelium discoideum, can be key in understanding the evolution of multicellular organisms because they exhibit a primitive form of multicellularity. Individual cells come together to form a multicellular structure during times of stress or when food is scarce, providing insights into how cooperative behavior and multicellularity could have evolved.
Plasmodial slime molds, on the other hand, like Fuligo septica, are of particular interest because they consist of a single large cell with many nuclei and exhibit complex behaviors that suggest a form of primitive reasoning. For example, they can navigate mazes and optimize their foraging paths, which may not represent true intelligence but do indicate a sophisticated level of problem-solving.