SAT OwlCommon cuckoos lay their eggs in the nests of other bird species, leaving the hosts to raise the cuckoo chicks. Many host birds can recognize and throw out eggs that look different from their own. Researchers have found that in regions where cuckoos have targeted a host species for a very long time, cuckoo eggs closely match the host's eggs in color and pattern. Where cuckoos have only recently begun targeting a host, their eggs often look quite different from the host's, and the hosts rarely reject them. This pattern suggests that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
host birds in recently targeted regions are better at recognizing unfamiliar eggs than hosts in long-targeted regions are.
cuckoos prefer to lay their eggs in the nests of hosts that have never encountered cuckoos.
the color of cuckoo eggs is unrelated to the behavior of host birds.
cuckoo eggs came to resemble host eggs over time in response to hosts that reject eggs unlike their own.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
Close egg matching shows up where hosts have dealt with cuckoos for a long time, and hosts can throw out eggs that look different. Where the relationship is new, hosts rarely reject eggs and the eggs do not match. This suggests matching developed as a response to rejection by hosts, choice D.
Choice A reverses the text: hosts in recently targeted regions "rarely reject" cuckoo eggs, so they are not better at spotting them.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. The text states that hosts in recently targeted regions rarely reject cuckoo eggs, so they are not better at recognizing them than hosts in long-targeted regions.
- B. The passage does not mention cuckoo preferences for specific hosts. It focuses on how egg appearance changes over time in response to host rejection behavior.
- C. The text shows a clear link between host rejection behavior and egg similarity, so claiming the color is unrelated contradicts the evidence provided.
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