Complete question:
Which survivorship curve best describes most marine organisms (few adults produce a large number of eggs and larvae).
- Type I
- Type II
- Type III
- None of the above
Answer:
Type III
Step-by-step explanation:
There are three survivorship curves, each of them corresponding to different species according to their reproductive strategies.
- Type I. Organisms do not tend to die when they are young or middle-aged, but they do when they are old. These species, in general, have a few descendants and parents provide much parental care to ensure their progeny to survival.
- Type II. Organisms that have more or less the same probabilities of dying in each age interval. These organisms can also have a few descendants and they can provide significant parental care.
- Type III. Only a few individuals survive their first period of life or their firsts years. However, the lucky ones to reach a certain age generally have a long life. These organisms have a lot of descendants at the same time, but they do not provide much parental care. This is the case of most marine organisms that produce a large number of eggs and larvae when they are adults, but they do not provide parental care.