Question

A little girl notices that she has a male dog and a female cat in her house at the same time. The dog and cat are the same size, and they seem friendly enough. Why don't these two animals ever mate?

a. Because the dog and cat are allopatric species.
b. Because the dog and cat are peripatric species.
c. Because the dog and cat are ecologically separated from each other.
d. Because the dog and cat are behaviorally isolated from each other.
e. Because the dog and cat are temporally isolated from each other.

Answer 1

Answer is D. Because the dog and cat are behaviorally isolated from each other.

Explanation:,

Isolation can be explained as a situation whereby organisms that ca interbreed and produce offspring could not, due to some factors.

Behavioral isolation is an example of isolation, and can be explained as a situation whereby two organisms that can interbreed could not, because of the difference in their mating rituals or signal.

In this case, the mating rituals or signal of the dog is different from that of the cat, and thus, prevent interbreeding between them.

Note that, other forms or types of isolation are ecological isolation, temporal isolation and mechanical isolation.

Another name for behavioral isolation is ethological isolation.