The same principle applies to parental investment in potential offspring. Even at the moment when an egg is fertilized by a sperm, the resulting fertilized embryo generally represents a greater investment for the female than for the male, because in most animal species the egg is much larger than the sperm. While both eggs and sperms contain chromosomes, the egg in addition must contain enough nutrients and metabolic machinery to support the embryo's further development for some time, at least until the embryo can start feeding itself. Sperms, in contrast, need contain only a flagellar motor and sufficient energy to drive that motor and support swimming for at most a few days. As a result, a mature human egg has roughly one million times the mass of the sperm that fertilizes it. Which of the following statements is true?
AWhen mating, the male invests much less than the female in total.
BWhen mating, the total investment of the male is roughly the same as that of the female.正確答案
CWhen mating, the female contributes much more than the male in total.
DWhen mating, the male contributes much more than the female in total.
答案與詳解
