The Expensive Tissue Hypothesis Includes the Argument That

Question

The expensive tissue hypothesis includes the argument that
A) evolution occurs in the face of cost-benefits trade-offs.
B) maintaining the membrane potential consumes much energy.
C) there is a corresponding decrease in the size of the digestive tract that parallels the increase in brain size.
D) large brain sizes require high quality diets to support them, and high quality diets yield nutrients easily and adequately to smaller digestive tracts.
E) all of these.

Accepted Answer

The expensive tissue hypothesis posits that the high energy cost of maintaining a large brain is offset by a reduction in the size and energy demand of another expensive tissue, such as the digestive tract. This hypothesis suggests that evolution involves trade-offs (A), acknowledges the high energy cost of maintaining tissues like the brain (B), and specifically argues that an increase in brain size is accompanied by a decrease in the size of the digestive tract (C), which is supported by a high-quality diet that can be efficiently processed by a smaller digestive system (D). Therefore, all of these statements (E) are components of the expensive tissue hypothesis.