Question

In Huey et al.'s experiment, snakes often chose thick rocks despite the associated risk of being too cool. Outline two hypotheses for why snakes sometimes choose thick rocks. Are your hypotheses testable? Do both hypotheses assume that the behavioral trait of choosing thick rocks is adaptive?

Answer 1

Snakes sometimes choose thick rocks despite the risk of being too cool. Two hypotheses for why this happens are: better predator protection and temperature regulation. Both hypotheses are testable through experiments.

Step-by-step explanation:

Two hypotheses for why snakes sometimes choose thick rocks despite the risk of being too cool are:

1. The thick rocks provide better protection from predators, outweighing the risk of being too cool.
2. The snakes may choose thick rocks to regulate their body temperature by moving between warm and cool surfaces.

Both hypotheses are testable through experiments. For example, researchers could observe the behavior of snakes in a controlled environment with different choices of rock thickness to determine their preferences and assess if their choices are adaptive.